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LOCAL PRESS

 

Drecun: Arrests are destabilizing the situation (B92)

The Chairman of the Committee on Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun has told TV B92 that the latest arrests of Serbs in northern part of the province obviously aim to destabilize the situation in the province and are undermining the trust of Serbs in EULEX. The latest arrests are additionally undermining the relations between Serbs and Albanians and they also providing a leeway for actions of northern Kosovo Serbs who are against the Brussels agreement on normalization of the Belgrade-Pristina relations, Drecun said. He noted that the moment of the arrest is rather problematic and it gives an impression of bias although EULEX claims otherwise.
This can lead to a drop in the turnout in the re-run vote for the northern Kosovska Mitrovica mayor due on 23 February, Drecun warned. All crimes need to be solved, but there must be no political bias, he said. Drecun said that in its daily contacts, the Republic of Serbia will call on EULEX to keep the indictments public and the process transparent, and that it will request that Ivanovic and Delibasic be released pending trial. This is important so as to curb rumors concerning attempted political penalization or regimentation as was the case with Ivanovic who is one of the candidates for the mayor in the forthcoming local elections, he said. Drecun noted that such problems would have been avoided had Belgrade and Pristina managed to reach an agreement on the judiciary. The best way to prevent such incidents in the future is to set up the Union of Serb Municipalities, Drecun said.

One-month detention for Delibasic (Politika)

Lawyer Dejan Vasic told Politika that EULEX pretrial judge Darius Sielizki has ordered a one-month detention for Delibasic due to the seriousness of the charges, based on statements of two protected witnesses and a statement of Kosovo interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi at the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office. Vasic said that the defense has not seen the witnesses’ statements and that the possibility of escape and potential influence on witnesses were the reasons for the detention of Delibasic. “At my suggestion, Delibasic exercised his right to remain silent in his first appearance before the international judge at the Special Prosecution Office in Pristina. They are charging him with serious crimes punishable by a sentence between 10 years in prison and life imprisonment,” said Vasic.
Kosovo Serb Dragoljub Delibasic, arrested by EULEX on suspicion of having committed a series of crimes in 1999 and 2000, is charged on three counts, EULEX spokeswoman Irina Gudeljevic has said. Acting in the capacity of Mitrovica Police Commander in 1999-2000, Delibasic incited the offence of aggravated murder by depriving other persons of life because of national motives, allegedly committed in co-perpetration with Oliver Ivanovic, Gudeljevic told Politika. Delibasic is charged with incitement to commit the offence of attempted aggravated murder by depriving other persons of life because of national motives resulting in grievous bodily injury, also committed in co-perpetration with Oliver Ivanovic. At the same time, he is charged with incitement to commit the offence of attempted aggravated murder by depriving other persons of life because of national motives, also committed in co-perpetration with Oliver Ivanovic, Gudeljevic said. Asked to comment on allegations that there is a secret list of 40 Serbs and that another four Serb police officers integrated into the Kosovo police are to be arrested in the coming days, Gudeljevic said: “EULEX has no secret lists and that the answer to the other question is also in the negative.”

However, the leader of the Serb National Council (SNV) for northern Kosovo Milan Ivanovic claims that the arrest of tens of Serbs is “aimed at intimidating the Serbs and waging a psychological war against them, in the function of their ethnic cleansing from northern Kosovo, but also from the entire territory of Kosovo and Metohija.” According to him, Dragoljub Delibasic’s arrest is the result of organized, systematic, institutional and non-institutional terror and repression that has been conducted against the Serbs for fifteen years. “The latest arrests are an attack, completely designed according to the Croatian model, under the supervision of EULEX, not only on the Serbs in northern Kosovo and entire territory of the province, but also on the Serbian state institutions. I was also on the dock twice and it was proved that I was falsely accused both times,” said Ivanovic.

Serb returnees in Klina seek protection (Radio Serbia)

Over the past weekend, there were three attacks against the property of Serb returnees in the municipality of Klina in Metohija - the house of the Vucicevic family was torched in the village of Klinavac, and two Serbian houses were looted and demolished in Klina. Returnees in the municipality stress that they are constantly exposed to attacks and looting, that the Kosovo police does not do anything to protect them, and that they are asking for help from the international community. The fact that the house of the Vucicevic family was torched has not been reported to the Kosovo police this time. Returnees say that there is no point in doing that as the police just note the incident and that not a single perpetrator has been identified so far. They warn that they cannot stand the constant attacks and uncertainty much longer and announce that they will collective move away. The security situation in Klinavac is extremely difficult, nobody comes to visit or asks how we are doing, says returnee Jovo Jovic. “We are afraid that this is yet another proof that those of us who have returned do not belong here. If Serbia and the international community do not do something to protect us, I will leave everything I have here and leave. History has not recorded what happens to us Serbs here in the XXI century.” “The goal of our neighbors is to expel us from here little by little. We have been neglected and left to cope alone with this. All these years nobody asked how we live here, if we have problems and why we want to leave from this place," Vuleta Kostic says with tears in his eyes. Pec District Head Vinka Radosavljevic says that Serb returnees have troubles with the police when they report a robbery or arson. “Police interviews take several hours, and those who report a crime are actually treated as perpetrators,” she says. Before the war in Kosovo and Metohija , 50 Serb families lived in the village of Klinavac located about six kilometers from Klina, while today only 15 of them live in 7 of 30 renovated houses.
REGIONAL PRESS

 

Sorensen: There is a mechanism for forcing politicians to agreement (EuroBlic)

The EU Special Representative in B&H Peter Sorensen has stated that there is a mechanism whereby the European Commission can force politicians in B&H to reach agreement on the Sejdic-Finci issue, and this is to “lead politicians to the conclusion whether B&H wishes or not to advance on the EU integration road.” He reiterated that the EU can’t pass decisions instead of B&H, but it can only help domestic politicians to “sit together and pass decisions that should be implemented by the parliaments in B&H and civil society organizations.” Asked whether the legitimacy of the elections will be brought into question if politicians in B&H do not reach agreement before the elections, Sorensen said it would be a huge step backwards if B&H would be in a situation in which it would be impossible to hold elections because the decision was not implemented and the Constitution was not harmonized. Sorensen stressed that seven B&H leaders are negotiating on the Sejdic-Finci case, but he couldn’t specify whether agreement would be reached.

 

Izetbegovic lodged protest with Serbian Ambassador to B&H (Fena)

During the first presentation visit of the Serbian Ambassador to B&H Stanimir Vukcevic, Bosniak member of the B&H Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic has harshly protested because he thinks that Serbia abused the system of issuing diffusion warrants for Naser Oric and collaborators. Izetbegovic thinks that this is a move “opposed to the content of the Protocol on Cooperation” signed by the two states and that Serbia “should finally face the past and think twice about the future,” reads the statement issued by the Izetbegovic’s cabinet. Izetbegovic pointed out that “in the given case at issue is not a coincidence but continuation of Serbia’s aggressive policy towards B&H and voiced bitterness, assessing that such activities of the Serbian institutions are absolutely unacceptable.”

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

Satirical Video of Serbia’s Vucic Sparks Copyright Row (BIRN, by Bojana Barlovac, 6 February 2014)

Free speech campaigners said that a mocking adaptation of TV footage of deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic saving a boy in a snowstorm did not breach Serbian copyright law.

Vladan Joler, of internet freedom campaign group Share Foundation, said that the video which added satirical subtitles to original footage filmed by Serbian public broadcaster RTS was a legitimate form of freedom of expression that ought to enjoy the protection of the law.

Joler said that RTS was wrong in its allegations that the satirical montage, which caused controversy after being posted online at the weekend, breached its copyright.

“The claim that posting RTS video footage with satirical subtitles has infringed the copyright of the broadcaster is unfounded,” Joler told BIRN.

The video was an adaptation of genuine footage shot by RTS on Saturday, which showed Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic - who is tipped to become prime minister after the March 16 elections - rescuing a boy stuck in a snowstorm in the northern town of Feketic.

The subtitles that were added suggested that the entire scene was filmed to win Vucic support in the forthcoming polls.

Immediately afterwards, RTS’s digital distributor, KVZ Music, issued a takedown notice to YouTube and other internet video outlets demanding the removal of the montage on the grounds of copyright infringement. The takedown notice was requested by RTS, Petar Boracev of KVZ Music told BIRN on Monday.

Serbia’s Law on Copyright and Related Rights allows for the free readaptation of published copyright work if it is a parody or caricature, provided it is not misleading and does not create confusion regarding the original.

According to Joler, the controversial video "clearly shows that the author of the original was RTS, so its copyright was not violated".

Share Foundation on Tuesday filed a criminal suit against Matricon Ltd, which is KVZ Music's authorised representative for Serbia, for removing the video.

The Foundation said that the suit is aimed at determining “responsibility for attempted censorship and the restriction of the freedom of exchange of content on the internet”.

Serbia’s Association of Independent Electronic Media, ANEM, has sided with the Share Foundation in the dispute.

“The authors of the removed clips presented their stance… that the [rescue] operation was staged, which is a legitimate political stance that can be freely expressed in line with constitutional guarantees,” ANEM said in a statement.

Vukasin Obradovic, president of the journalists’ association NUNS, believes the original footage of Vucic saving the boy was agreed in advance with RTS.

“This was pure propaganda,” Obradovic told BIRN.

“It suggests that we will face a nasty campaign in the forthcoming elections, especially online,” he added.

Obradovic noted that the mainstream media had ignored the existence of the satirical video, except to publish Vucic's reaction to it, which he said indicated a high level of self-censorship in Serbia.

 

Bosnia Croat parties unite before elections (Journal of Turkish Weekly, 5 February 2014)

The Croatian People's Assembly - a Bosnian Croat umbrella group - has said that most Croatian parties will go into the general elections in October together, in order to protect the best interests of the community.

Bozo Ljubic, head of the Croatian People's Assembly, also said on Monday that the member parties would not form any "illegitimate" coalitions following the elections.

Dragan Covic, chief of the main Croatian party in Bosnia, the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, said the parties in the People's Assembly had agreed that the final details regarding the united stand in the elections would follow at a later session.

Martin Raguz, president of HDZ 1990, the second largest Croat party in Bosnia, said the parties should stand together in elections as the position of the Croats in Bosnia was increasingly endangered.

The Croatian People's Assembly, which unites several Croatian parties, was founded by the HDZ, and its sister party, HDZ 1990, after the two parties failed to be included in the Federation entity government in 2011.

Aside from their dissatisfaction over not being represented in the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the parties in the Croatian People's Assembly also dispute the legitimacy of the Croat member of Bosnia's tripartite Presidency.

Zeljko Komsic was elected to the presidency as a Social Democrat and - according to the Croat parties, mainly by Bosniak [Muslim], not Croat, votes.

Bosniaks far outnumber Croats in the Federation entity - prompting claims that Croats are outvoted routinely as well as sparking calls for a separate Croat entity.

 

Croatia Arrests Bosnian Detention Camp Commander (BIRN, by Josip Ivanovic, 6 February 2014)

Croatian police have detained former camp cammander Cazim Behric, who was living in the city of Rijeka but is wanted in Bosnia for alleged war crimes against prisoners and rape.

Behric was arrested on Wednesday in Rijeka, where a county court judge remanded him in custody for a month, saying there was a high risk that he could flee because of the seriousness of the charges against him.

He is accused of abusing civilians including children, women and elderly people held at the Drmeljevo detention camp which he ran in Velika Kladusa in north-west Bosnia in August 1994.

He has also been charged with raping a woman detained at the camp and over the death of a prisoner who was tortured.

As Behric is a citizen of both Bosnia and Croatia, the Bosnian court in the north-western town of Bihac, near Velika Kladusa, proposed that the two governments should make an agreement so his is prosecuted in Croatia for his alleged crimes.

The Drmaljevo camp was set up by a self-declared, unrecognised wartime statelet called the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, headed by secessionist Bosniak leader Fikret Abdic.

While leading the breakaway statelet, Abdic fought against fellow Bosniaks who were loyal to the Sarajevo government. His troops battled the Bosnian Army and cooperated with Serb and Croat forces.

Abdic was later convicted of participating in the killing of Muslims and jailed for war crimes by a Croatian court, but was released in March 2012 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

 

Macedonia President in a Knot Over Neckties (BIRN, by Sinisa Jakov Marusic, 6 February 2014)

The Macedonian president has denied that spending around 5,800 euro on ties in 2012 was excessive, saying they were bought as gifts for foreign delegations, not for himself.

President Gjorge Ivanov’s office confirmed that some 5,800 euro of state funds was spent on ties in 2012 but accused media who revealed the expenditure of distorting the truth to discredit him.

The media allegations that Ivanov bought the ties for himself were a “tendentious and malicious distortion of facts”, his office said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We would like to point out that they were protocol gifts that were procured in accordance with presidential protocol activities that include visits of foreign delegations to Macedonia as well as return visits to foreign countries,” the statement said.

Several local media outlets on Wednesday published a document from the Public Procurement Bureau that revealed that on March 8, 2012 the presidential cabinet paid some 5,800 euro to the Skopje firm Fokabo for neckties.

This sum covered tie purchases for the entire year, Ivanov’s office explained.

It was not specified how many ties were purchased, but media speculated that given the market value of such items in Macedonia, there could have been up to a thousand.

The document shows Ivanov’s office outlay on so-called ‘small expenditures’ of less than 5,000 euro each. The sum in the document about the neckties included VAT.

In such cases the law does not require for a public tendering procedure to be called and instead a purchase is made based on three collected offers.

The document also showed annual presidential expenditures on flags, gift boxes, fuel and other items.

Ivanov’s necktie nuisance coincides with the conclusion of his first five-year term in office in April.

It comes amid uncertainty whether he will run for a second term and whether the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party will again endorse his candidacy.

Young Macedonian actor Igor Stojcevski also issued a press release on Wednesday denying some media allegations that in 2012 he received some 5,000 euro from the presidential office for hosting just two events.

In a country with an average monthly salary of just over 300 euro, this is considered a large sum.

“I am surprised by the untruth published in the news,” the actor wrote, asking for an apology.

Stojcevski insisted that he only received some 800 euro for his engagement as a moderator at 11 events that were organised by the president’s office that year.

 

A forgotten crime: Montenegro’s double-dealing on the media (EUobserver, by Zeljko Ivanovic, 6 February 2014)

Podgorica - Montenegro is first in line after Croatia to enter the EU, according to some European politicians and parliamentarians.

It’s a leader in the Balkan region. But the country’s press is under attack, with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic leading the line in cracking down on critical media. The state media stir the campaign against independent outlets, portraying their founders as criminals and its female journalists as prostitutes.

At a recent exhibition funded by the government, the front pages of critically-oriented media were displayed and outlets depicted as enemies of the state that manufacture news. The prime minister showed his support for this vilification of critical media by appearing in person. A little earlier, he colorfully described these media as vermin that should be “de-rat-ised”.

On the TV stations under his control, programmes are interrupted every hour to transmit news about the "criminals" who run the daily Vijesti, the weekly Monitor and the various NGOs that dare to criticise endemic corruption and the links of senior officials to organised crime.

In such a hostile atmosphere, it was little surprise that a few days before the New Year a bomb exploded outside the office of Vijesti’s editor-in-chief. Only a few weeks earlier the building had been stoned.

Three days after the New Year, a female journalist working for the other independent daily, Dan, was severely beaten about the head by someone armed with a baseball bat.

It remains unclear who is responsible. As usual in cases of attacks against media, the police have been unable to identify the perpetrators.

In the latest Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Montenegro placed 113th out of 179 countries – a ranking that has deteriorated year on year. Slovenia, a neighbor and EU member, is ranked 35th, and Serbia and Croatia are also far ahead. Even Bosnia and Herzegovina, which by many other parameters unfortunately lags well behind the rest of the Balkans, rates well ahead of Montenegro at 68th.

This situation is easily explained.

Last man standing

Only in Montenegro has rule barely changed since 1945. Milo Djukanovic overturned the previous Communist government 25 years ago by means of an internal putsch.

Since this time, he has been the undisputed leader of this small country overburdened by problems of crime and corruption. A former close ally of Slobodan Milosevic, he is the last man standing from the generation of ex-Yugoslavian war leaders, the only one still active in politics. As in the Communist system he used to embrace, he perceives the media as the greatest threat to his absolute rule.

In the past decade, the founder and editor of a daily newspaper has been killed, editors and journalists have been physically attacked, cars belonging to media companies have been set on fire, and defamation cases seeking hundreds of thousands of Euros (and even millions in some cases) have been brought against critics.

In the past six years alone, our daily Vijesti has been subjected to 14 attacks: our journalists, editors, owners and a photographer have been beaten, and our property has been bombed and burned. That this is a warning to our colleagues not to report what they see is obvious.

Not only have none of the criminal acts been properly investigated, but the authorities and their institutions have done everything in their power to render the investigations meaningless and to ensure that the real culprits are not touched.

This has increased self-censorship among journalists; many of them are very concerned by the fact that those who commission the attacks seem untouchable, hidden at the very top the government and the mafia circles close to it.

Journalism should be a simple and responsible profession that protects the public interest and defends society from abuse by the powerful and privileged. But in light of the state of media freedom in Montenegro, practicing journalism has been described by representatives from the Council of Europe as ‘a heroic feat’.

Yet it’s also more nuanced. When journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in 2006, a Russian journalist explained: "We do not have a suicidal impulse. On the contrary, we have the urge to live. We want to instigate change, so that our country is better and happier tomorrow than it is today.”

The growing sophistication of our prime minister in building his, let’s call it, “soft dictatorship” can be seen from his change in tactics. When physical assaults failed to deliver the expected results, the regime introduced financial ones.

He forbade the government, state institutions, municipalities and public companies from advertising in Vijesti. A number of private companies that are close to the prime minister, or whom he can intimidate through tax inspections, were “advised” to avoid us. This has caused millions of Euros worth of financial damage to the paper.

On the other hand, he has relentlessly poured state money into the low-circulation national newspaper Pobjeda, which would otherwise have gone bankrupt a long time ago. He has also launched a TV station with cheap programming in order to compromise the sustainability of the independent TV Vijesti.

Napoleon once remarked: “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.” Though it may have some truth, it is a comment born through the paranoia of the powerful.

Our newspaper does not consider anyone to be its enemy. However, the all-powerful politicians whose irresponsibility and corruption we report on, perceive us as such.

A cynical trade-off

Europe has a pivotal role to play in this situation. For years, EU authorities have sought concrete support from Montenegro for a host of regional initiatives. Prime Minister Djukanovic has developed a system that is tantamount to a political trade-off.

He is completely cooperative and obedient to Brussels when it comes to regional issues, such as the recognition of Kosovo, support of the Bosnian state as envisioned in the Dayton Agreement, and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

In exchange, the EU turns a blind eye while the government harasses civil society and independent media to the point of extinction.

It is time for an end to this cynical policy.

European officials, whether they are in Brussels or Paris, Berlin or London, should start taking stock of the real situation and status of democracy and human rights in Montenegro.

Otherwise, Djukanovic will succeed in what should be an impossible mission obtaining full EU membership for Montenegro, while simultaneously extinguishing the last critical voices.