Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    Odraz B92 vesti (by 11 PM), December 28, 1996

    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1996 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 11 PM
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    STUDENTS WANT RESIGNATION OF INTERIOR MINISTER

    Several thousand students held another protest rally today in
    Belgrade, for the 36th day in a row. At today's rally they added a
    new demand: they want the resignation of Serbian Interior Minister
    Zoran Sokolovic for ordering the police to prevent the students'
    usual march down the streets of Belgrade. The students tried to
    organize a procession and go for a walkabout in downtown Belgrade,
    but they were stopped by cordons of special police units. One of
    the members of the Student Protest Steering Board stated the
    police action shows ``how desperate Milosevic is.''  A new protest
    rally will take place tomorrow.


    DJUKANOVIC'S LETTER TO STUDENTS

    Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic sent a letter to the
    Steering Board of the Student Protest, in which he said that
    ``it's very important that the students are on the side of
    democracy and justice.''  Djukanovic said that he was sorry for
    not having been able to receive the students' delegation when they
    were in Podgorica, but he was glad that they were received by the
    Parliament Speaker, who had very good impressions of the meeting.
    At the end of his message, Djukanovic sent his best wishes to the
    students for the coming New Year.


    RTS SUSPICIOUS ABOUT CAUSE OF STARCEVIC'S DEATH

    In its prime time news program today, the state-run Serbian
    Television (RTS) said that the bruises on the body of the deceased
    Predrag Starcevic, whose funeral was attended by more than 10,000
    people today, may be the consequence of a genetic heart
    malfunction. The state television also said that the post-mortem
    had been done, but did not report anything about its results.
    Radio B92 has tried to find out the official results of the post-
    mortem at the hospital where it was carried out, but our reporters
    were told that the Judge of the Investigative Court is the only
    person to whom the results can be made available. Reporters of
    Radio B92, despite all their efforts, could not manage to find Mr.
    Djukic, the above mentioned judge. However, Radio B92 has learned
    that, according to an unofficial statement by the doctors,
    Starcevic's death was caused by massive internal bleeding, which
    ensued after he received a series of severe blows with blunt
    objects on several parts of his body.


    POLICE PREVENTS PROTEST MARCHES IN OTHER SERBIAN CITIES

    Besides Belgrade, the police have launched a series of actions to
    prevent the protest marches in some other Serbian cities, such as
    Bor and Leskovac. Today, police cordons stopped the marchers in
    those two cities and some of the local leaders of the coalition
    Zajedno were summoned to police station for a ``briefing,''
    reports Radio B92. Leaders of Zajedno have announced that the
    marches will continue, whether the police permit them or not.


    RADIO B92 PRODUCES DOCUMENTARY ON STUDENTS MARCHES

    A film documentary produced by Radio B92 about the student march
    from Novi Sad to Belgrade had its premiere this evening in Novi
    Sad. The film is called ``These Feet Are Not So Small, Much Wisdom
    They Gave To All'' and it documents the march of 132 students, who
    walked from Novi Sad to Belgrade (80 km). The march took about 20
    hours. The film documentary, which is twenty minutes long, will
    soon be shown in Belgrade.


    YUGOSLAV LEFT SATISFIED WITH GONZALEZ'S LETTER

    Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Yugoslav United
    Left Vladimir Stambuk stated at today's press conference that the
    Left (JUL) is ``very happy'' with Gonzalez's letter. ``We are glad
    simply because the letter confirmed some of our basic principles,
    on which we have insisted for the last two months,'' said Stambuk,
    and added that the elections were free and legitimate, and that
    it's undeniable that the parties of The Left had won in them.


    MOSCOW FOR A DIALOGUE

    Official Russia sated today that the Serbian authorities and the
    opposition can find a way out of the political stalemate only
    through a dialogue, reports FoNet. Speaking off the record, some
    Russian officials stated, however, that Felipe Gonzalez's the
    report of the OSCE delegation is the last chance Milosevic has to
    end the conflict peacefully. The alternative, added one Russian
    official who insisted on remaining anonymous, is a possible civil
    war in Serbia, reports FoNet's Moscow correspondent.


    ALBANIA PREDICTS MILOSEVIC'S IMMINENT FALL

    Official Albania today stated that the fall of Slobodan Milosevic
    is inevitable, now that the OCSE delegation has confirmed the
    electoral victory of the opposition in all major cities in Serbia.
    Albanian Foreign Minister Tritan Djehu stated that ``there is only
    one outcome -- the end of Milosevic's regime, the last communist
    dictatorship in Europe. It is only a question of time.''


    FRANCE RECOMMENDS QUICK SOLUTION

    France today demanded from Serbian authorities to confirm the
    opposition victory in Belgrade and 14 other cities, so the crisis
    can be solved quickly, reports Reuters. ``Serbian authorities must
    understand that the gap between the government and the people
    threatens to become permanent, unless they do something quickly to
    solve the problem,'' says the official statement of the French
    Ministry of the Foreign Affairs.

    Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
    Edited by: Vaska Andjelkovic (Tumir)

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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