22 May 2008 14:05 Source: Beta
PRAGUE -- A bus from the Czech Republic carrying humanitarian aid to the Kosovo Serbs has been stoned near Decani, Czech radio reports.
An informal Czech group called the Petition Board Against Recognizing Kosovo's Independence organized a visit by a group of 20 students to visit Kosovo and bring aid to the Serbs living in Kosovo.
Czech radio confirmed that on their way to High Decani monastery, Albanian youths threw stones at the bus bearing Czech license plates. It was also confirmed that no-one was injured during the incident.
"The fact that the Czech government recognized Kosovo's independence, of which I am deeply ashamed, has meant nothing to those 'peace loving' and 'democratic' Albanians", said Jaroslav Foldina, regional leader of the Czech Social Democrats, in a statement given to the online edition of daily Pravo. Foldina was one of the passengers on the bus.
"We're talking a lot with people in Kosovo, and everyone kept asking about it (yesterday's recognition of Kosovo by the Czech government). I kept repeating the same answer: Serbia was not betrayed by the Czech people, but by the Czech government. The people have always been the same", he insisted.
Following distribution of the humanitarian aid, the students and the Petition Board intend to organize demonstrations in Kosovska Mitrovica in protest at the Czech government's decision to recognize Kosovo's independence.
The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) has not received any information about any attack on the the bus.
KPS spokesman Veton Elshani told the Beta News agency that they had received no reports or information about a bus with Czech license plates, nor any other bus for that matter, being attacked yesterday.
"No one reported any attack on a bus to the police", said Elshani.
He added that since the beginning of this year, four Serb families had been living in Decani, and that, so far, they had reported no problems.
22 May 2008
Tadic's Titanic
May 22, 2008
In Serbia, the Wreck of Wishful Thinking
by Nebojsa Malic
Nothing so destroys the delusions about democracy as the practice thereof. Examples of this are legion; one could look at the daytime drama presidential campaigns in the U.S., or the ethnic referenda in places like Kenya or Bosnia-Herzegovina. The latest exhibit in the case against democracy comes from Serbia, where general elections were held on May 11.
Even before the polls closed, the "European Serbia" coalition, led by the Democratic Party leader and President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, was claiming a stunning victory. Media, both in Serbia and the West, thundered about the country's "clear European choice" and waxed poetic about Serbia's "tilt to the West." The morning after, however, electoral math spoke differently.
In order to form a government, any party or coalition in Serbia has to have at least 126 seats in the 250-member Skupshtina. Tadic's coalition got 103. Even with the support of every possible ethnic minority party and the militant Liberal Democrats, the most votes he could put together in the parliament was 123.
On the other hand, the "patriotic bloc" that supposedly "lost" the election - Serbian Radical Party (SRS), ex-PM Vojislav Kostunica's populist coalition (DSS-NS) and the Socialists (SPS) – won more than enough mandates among themselves to put together a government: 127.
As the awareness of numbers slowly crept into the post-election EUphoria in both Serbia and the West, anger and threats replaced self-congratulatory twaddle. U.S. and UK ambassadors, as they've grown accustomed to, lectured the people of Serbia that democracy didn't really mean letting those who won the most votes rule.
Because, you see, only the Democrats had democratic legitimacy to democratize democratically in a democracy…
And if democracy failed to bring Democrats to power, there were always other means. Ceda Jovanovic, leader of the militantly pro-Imperial Liberal Democrats, spoke about a "parallel government." Bozidar Djelic, Tadic's right-hand man, claimed there would be protests in the streets – then tried to backtrack and blame Reuters for misinterpretation.
Tadic himself threatened he would "not allow" any "tampering with the popular will." Yet there was no disguising the fact that he found himself in the exact same position as the Radicals have been in the past five years: the strongest single party in the parliament, unable to actually rule.
Courting the SPS
Empire's enablers and EU's favorites thus found themselves in a quandary. They could not go back into a government with Kostunica; they had to be dragged into a marriage of convenience with him last year, and burned all their bridges this spring, after sabotaging the government's policy on Kosovo. The Radicals stand for everything they despise: tradition, sovereignty, independence. So in desperation, they reached out to the Socialists – the party of the late Slobodan Milosevic, whom they have incessantly demonized for the past decade.
Suddenly, one could hear from the champions of "democratic reform" that the Socialists weren't really all that bad, they could be a modern leftist party if they'd only shed the 1990s baggage, and say, wouldn't they want to join the Socialist International, of which the Democrats are a member (sort of)? Even the Brussels commissars chimed in, saying the Socialists' support would not be objectionable (quite a different story from four years ago).
Somehow, the Serbian voters were supposed to believe that the Radicals, who were allied with Milosevic for a short time in the 1990s, and Kostunica – who ran against Milosevic in 2000 and succeeded him as President after DOS took power – somehow represented the "retrograde forces of the 1990s," while Milosevic's actual party was a "modern, progressive" force of reform?
In Serbia, the Wreck of Wishful Thinking
by Nebojsa Malic
Nothing so destroys the delusions about democracy as the practice thereof. Examples of this are legion; one could look at the daytime drama presidential campaigns in the U.S., or the ethnic referenda in places like Kenya or Bosnia-Herzegovina. The latest exhibit in the case against democracy comes from Serbia, where general elections were held on May 11.
Even before the polls closed, the "European Serbia" coalition, led by the Democratic Party leader and President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, was claiming a stunning victory. Media, both in Serbia and the West, thundered about the country's "clear European choice" and waxed poetic about Serbia's "tilt to the West." The morning after, however, electoral math spoke differently.
In order to form a government, any party or coalition in Serbia has to have at least 126 seats in the 250-member Skupshtina. Tadic's coalition got 103. Even with the support of every possible ethnic minority party and the militant Liberal Democrats, the most votes he could put together in the parliament was 123.
On the other hand, the "patriotic bloc" that supposedly "lost" the election - Serbian Radical Party (SRS), ex-PM Vojislav Kostunica's populist coalition (DSS-NS) and the Socialists (SPS) – won more than enough mandates among themselves to put together a government: 127.
As the awareness of numbers slowly crept into the post-election EUphoria in both Serbia and the West, anger and threats replaced self-congratulatory twaddle. U.S. and UK ambassadors, as they've grown accustomed to, lectured the people of Serbia that democracy didn't really mean letting those who won the most votes rule.
Because, you see, only the Democrats had democratic legitimacy to democratize democratically in a democracy…
And if democracy failed to bring Democrats to power, there were always other means. Ceda Jovanovic, leader of the militantly pro-Imperial Liberal Democrats, spoke about a "parallel government." Bozidar Djelic, Tadic's right-hand man, claimed there would be protests in the streets – then tried to backtrack and blame Reuters for misinterpretation.
Tadic himself threatened he would "not allow" any "tampering with the popular will." Yet there was no disguising the fact that he found himself in the exact same position as the Radicals have been in the past five years: the strongest single party in the parliament, unable to actually rule.
Courting the SPS
Empire's enablers and EU's favorites thus found themselves in a quandary. They could not go back into a government with Kostunica; they had to be dragged into a marriage of convenience with him last year, and burned all their bridges this spring, after sabotaging the government's policy on Kosovo. The Radicals stand for everything they despise: tradition, sovereignty, independence. So in desperation, they reached out to the Socialists – the party of the late Slobodan Milosevic, whom they have incessantly demonized for the past decade.
Suddenly, one could hear from the champions of "democratic reform" that the Socialists weren't really all that bad, they could be a modern leftist party if they'd only shed the 1990s baggage, and say, wouldn't they want to join the Socialist International, of which the Democrats are a member (sort of)? Even the Brussels commissars chimed in, saying the Socialists' support would not be objectionable (quite a different story from four years ago).
Somehow, the Serbian voters were supposed to believe that the Radicals, who were allied with Milosevic for a short time in the 1990s, and Kostunica – who ran against Milosevic in 2000 and succeeded him as President after DOS took power – somehow represented the "retrograde forces of the 1990s," while Milosevic's actual party was a "modern, progressive" force of reform?
On the Edge
There was some reason to believe that Socialist leaders could be seduced by the promises from Brussels. After all, Serbia's obsession with the EU was manufactured from people's nostalgia for the old Socialist Yugoslavia, in which no one had to work and everyone had everything – until the IMF loans came due, anyway. Those in Serbia who worship the EU don't want a bigger market for their products, or lower customs, or better standards of governance; they want free money, pure and simple.
For a week, the Democrats seemed convinced the Socialist leaders would sell out their voters for a chance to partake in Brussels junkets. Serbia was "on the edge," declared political analysts, punning on the name of the Socialists' leader, Ivica ("edge") Dacic.
Over the weekend, Dacic flew to Moscow, ostensibly to meet with a minor Russian politician. Serbian media feverishly speculated whether he discussed a possible deal with the Democrats with members of Milosevic's family, who now live in Russia.
Or could he have sought advice from Putin and Medvedev?
Finally, news came on Tuesday that the Socialists agreed to form a government with the Radicals and Kostunica.
No Easy Task
Last Friday, Tadic derided the possibility of Socialists joining his opponents, saying such a government would be a "short trip on the Titanic." One can only assume the Democratic Party leader had in mind to be the iceberg; the "nationalist" government may actually be the most stable political structure in Serbia since the DOS coup in 2000.
DOS was a squabbling mess of pocket parties whose leaders all suffered from delusions of grandeur. Subsequently, under tremendous pressure to keep the Radicals out of power, Kostunica had to accept either allies of the Democrats (G17-Plus, in the first mandate) or the Democrats themselves (in the second mandate), both of whom ran their own policies and ultimately caused the government to collapse. For the first time in almost a decade, the government actually has a consensus on issues of vital importance to Serbia, and doesn't contain a "Trojan" element.
On the other hand, the Empire has invested too heavily in the Democrats and their hangers-on, as well as a host of "non-governmental" organizations, and is likely to increase their funding now. Political pressure from Brussels and Washington is bound to rise. So will the demonization of "nationalists" in the Western press, already growing for the past few years. Serbian press is by and large controlled by foreign interests, both economic and political; it will continue to hound the government and brainwash the people into "accepting the reality" of Imperial domination.
The Stumbling Giants
It is questionable, however, how long that domination may last. With each passing day, oil gets more expensive (strengthening, say, Russia) and the dollar gets weaker. The Mesopotamian expedition is bogged down, and attempts to "win" by expanding the war to Iran may result in a Stalingrad scenario.
Empire's hegemony in the Balkans may soon be put to a test by none other than its Albanian protégés. Elections in Macedonia are on June 1, and the country's restless Albanians are already up in arms, again. One of their leaders, Menduh Thaci, is a cousin of the current "president of Kosovo," Hashim Thaci. Another, Ali Ahmeti, was a longtime lieutenant of Avni Klinaku, who has just established a "Movement for Unification" (of "ethnic Albanian lands"), on May 17 in Pristina. Meanwhile, videos announcing the formation of the "Liberation Army of Chameria" (Epirus, in western Greece) appeared on the internet recently, following the same pattern that Thaci's KLA used to initiate its campaign in Kosovo. It is indeed tempting to conclude that the Greater Albanian project is about to enter its next phase.
The EU's effort to supplant the UN in the "independent state of Kosovo" seems to have foundered as well, the Brussels bureaucrats finding that there was more to creating reality than they initially thought.
All over the world, the idea that wishing for something could make it reality is facing the cold, hard facts that say otherwise. The verbal acrobatics of the Empire and its enablers in Serbia only underscore the vacuous nature of their hegemony. President Tadic's unfortunate metaphor about the Titanic wasn't wrong, merely misplaced. For the real monument to arrogance proudly sailing on the irreversible course towards the End of History now appears to be that of his masters, and his own.
There was some reason to believe that Socialist leaders could be seduced by the promises from Brussels. After all, Serbia's obsession with the EU was manufactured from people's nostalgia for the old Socialist Yugoslavia, in which no one had to work and everyone had everything – until the IMF loans came due, anyway. Those in Serbia who worship the EU don't want a bigger market for their products, or lower customs, or better standards of governance; they want free money, pure and simple.
For a week, the Democrats seemed convinced the Socialist leaders would sell out their voters for a chance to partake in Brussels junkets. Serbia was "on the edge," declared political analysts, punning on the name of the Socialists' leader, Ivica ("edge") Dacic.
Over the weekend, Dacic flew to Moscow, ostensibly to meet with a minor Russian politician. Serbian media feverishly speculated whether he discussed a possible deal with the Democrats with members of Milosevic's family, who now live in Russia.
Or could he have sought advice from Putin and Medvedev?
Finally, news came on Tuesday that the Socialists agreed to form a government with the Radicals and Kostunica.
No Easy Task
Last Friday, Tadic derided the possibility of Socialists joining his opponents, saying such a government would be a "short trip on the Titanic." One can only assume the Democratic Party leader had in mind to be the iceberg; the "nationalist" government may actually be the most stable political structure in Serbia since the DOS coup in 2000.
DOS was a squabbling mess of pocket parties whose leaders all suffered from delusions of grandeur. Subsequently, under tremendous pressure to keep the Radicals out of power, Kostunica had to accept either allies of the Democrats (G17-Plus, in the first mandate) or the Democrats themselves (in the second mandate), both of whom ran their own policies and ultimately caused the government to collapse. For the first time in almost a decade, the government actually has a consensus on issues of vital importance to Serbia, and doesn't contain a "Trojan" element.
On the other hand, the Empire has invested too heavily in the Democrats and their hangers-on, as well as a host of "non-governmental" organizations, and is likely to increase their funding now. Political pressure from Brussels and Washington is bound to rise. So will the demonization of "nationalists" in the Western press, already growing for the past few years. Serbian press is by and large controlled by foreign interests, both economic and political; it will continue to hound the government and brainwash the people into "accepting the reality" of Imperial domination.
The Stumbling Giants
It is questionable, however, how long that domination may last. With each passing day, oil gets more expensive (strengthening, say, Russia) and the dollar gets weaker. The Mesopotamian expedition is bogged down, and attempts to "win" by expanding the war to Iran may result in a Stalingrad scenario.
Empire's hegemony in the Balkans may soon be put to a test by none other than its Albanian protégés. Elections in Macedonia are on June 1, and the country's restless Albanians are already up in arms, again. One of their leaders, Menduh Thaci, is a cousin of the current "president of Kosovo," Hashim Thaci. Another, Ali Ahmeti, was a longtime lieutenant of Avni Klinaku, who has just established a "Movement for Unification" (of "ethnic Albanian lands"), on May 17 in Pristina. Meanwhile, videos announcing the formation of the "Liberation Army of Chameria" (Epirus, in western Greece) appeared on the internet recently, following the same pattern that Thaci's KLA used to initiate its campaign in Kosovo. It is indeed tempting to conclude that the Greater Albanian project is about to enter its next phase.
The EU's effort to supplant the UN in the "independent state of Kosovo" seems to have foundered as well, the Brussels bureaucrats finding that there was more to creating reality than they initially thought.
All over the world, the idea that wishing for something could make it reality is facing the cold, hard facts that say otherwise. The verbal acrobatics of the Empire and its enablers in Serbia only underscore the vacuous nature of their hegemony. President Tadic's unfortunate metaphor about the Titanic wasn't wrong, merely misplaced. For the real monument to arrogance proudly sailing on the irreversible course towards the End of History now appears to be that of his masters, and his own.
Bosnian, US Experts Say Herzegovina Sitting on Huge Oil Reserves
Posted on: Thursday, 22 May 2008, 06:00 CDT
Text of report by Bosnian edition of Croatian daily Vecernji list, on 21 May
[Report by Zdenko Jurilj: "Like Arabia, Hercegovina Sitting on Oil"]
According to a map made by experts of British Petroleum and Amoco, a US research company, the area spanning Glamoc, Livanjsko Polje, Dreznica, Nevesinje, and Neum, and going further to Montenegro and northern Albania, has the biggest oil reserves in Europe.
Vast Reserves
Professor Abdulah Basic, the dean of the Tuzla Technology and Mining Faculty, confirmed that Hercegovina was "swimming" in an oil field whose reserves he vividly compared to those in, say, Saudi Arabia or Iraq. Although these assessments may sound like some joke, papers in possession of foreign experts assure us that there is around 500 million tons of "black gold" lying in an oil reserve at a depth of 4,000-6,000 meters. The soaring price of oil and oil products recently compelled Sarajevo's Energoinvest company - which before the war scouted for oil fields in Bosnia-Hercegovina - to try and reactivate an old oil project that they had worked on together with the Americans. Professor Basic said that first barrels of B-H oil could be extracted in 15 years' time, if not sooner, provided that local authorities were responsive to a project that foreign oil giants dream of.
To confirm his story, Basic told us that, several months ago, British Petroleum experts asked to conduct research in the northern part of Bosnia, in the Posavina area, at the middle soil layer of the former site of the Panonian Sea. According to Basic, the experts decided to do a probe 4,000 meters deep. However, oil reserves in northern Bosnia - in the areas surrounding Tuzla, Bijeljina, Odzak, and Bosanski Samac - are not as big as in Hercegovina. Oil experts said that there were reserves containing 50 million tons of oil in the area of northern Bosnia. What remains to be completed is just 20 per cent of the final probe activities that fully guarantee the total amount of supplies and economic feasibility of exploitation.
To Reduce Import
"Oil research in this part of Bosnia-Hercegovina will certainly be carried out by Russian experts because Russians own the Bosanski Brod Oil Refinery," Basic said
According to estimates, a modernized and privatized oil refinery in Bosanski Brod, together with its foreign partners, will refine in the near future over 4 million tons of oil a year. We should note that Bosnia-Hercegovina annually imports 1.5 million tons of fuel, worth nearly 2 billion convertible marks. Nearly one half of oil products comes to the B-H market from Rijeka and Sisak refineries, and the rest is imported from Serbia, Russia, Hungary, and Slovenia.
[Box, p 9] Oil Documentation in 15 Boxes
Edhem Bicakcic, former B-H Federation prime minister and former Energoinvest director, used his political connections to move from Amoco to Sarajevo the entire documentation pertaining to the company's research of oil fields in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Fifteen boxes of documentation have been stored in Energoinvest's building in Sarajevo.
In Tuzla, Oil, Gas, Gushing in Backyard
Sarajevo - Last year, gas gushed out of the ground in front of a family house in the Tuzla suburb of Gornja Dubrava. Considering that gas always accompanies oil, it is not far from truth that the methane which surfaced in Gornje Dubrave could be an indicator of an oil reserve.
"This gas regularly accompanies oil or appears on its own as earth gas. This methane is a natural gas, and I am in favour of continuing the research. This area is very important; average temperatures are high, and this is another reason why this research should continue," Professor Rasim Delic of the Tuzla University said.
Originally published by Vecernji list (Bosnia-Hercegovina edition), Zagreb, in Croatian 21 May 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring European. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: BBC Monitoring European
Text of report by Bosnian edition of Croatian daily Vecernji list, on 21 May
[Report by Zdenko Jurilj: "Like Arabia, Hercegovina Sitting on Oil"]
According to a map made by experts of British Petroleum and Amoco, a US research company, the area spanning Glamoc, Livanjsko Polje, Dreznica, Nevesinje, and Neum, and going further to Montenegro and northern Albania, has the biggest oil reserves in Europe.
Vast Reserves
Professor Abdulah Basic, the dean of the Tuzla Technology and Mining Faculty, confirmed that Hercegovina was "swimming" in an oil field whose reserves he vividly compared to those in, say, Saudi Arabia or Iraq. Although these assessments may sound like some joke, papers in possession of foreign experts assure us that there is around 500 million tons of "black gold" lying in an oil reserve at a depth of 4,000-6,000 meters. The soaring price of oil and oil products recently compelled Sarajevo's Energoinvest company - which before the war scouted for oil fields in Bosnia-Hercegovina - to try and reactivate an old oil project that they had worked on together with the Americans. Professor Basic said that first barrels of B-H oil could be extracted in 15 years' time, if not sooner, provided that local authorities were responsive to a project that foreign oil giants dream of.
To confirm his story, Basic told us that, several months ago, British Petroleum experts asked to conduct research in the northern part of Bosnia, in the Posavina area, at the middle soil layer of the former site of the Panonian Sea. According to Basic, the experts decided to do a probe 4,000 meters deep. However, oil reserves in northern Bosnia - in the areas surrounding Tuzla, Bijeljina, Odzak, and Bosanski Samac - are not as big as in Hercegovina. Oil experts said that there were reserves containing 50 million tons of oil in the area of northern Bosnia. What remains to be completed is just 20 per cent of the final probe activities that fully guarantee the total amount of supplies and economic feasibility of exploitation.
To Reduce Import
"Oil research in this part of Bosnia-Hercegovina will certainly be carried out by Russian experts because Russians own the Bosanski Brod Oil Refinery," Basic said
According to estimates, a modernized and privatized oil refinery in Bosanski Brod, together with its foreign partners, will refine in the near future over 4 million tons of oil a year. We should note that Bosnia-Hercegovina annually imports 1.5 million tons of fuel, worth nearly 2 billion convertible marks. Nearly one half of oil products comes to the B-H market from Rijeka and Sisak refineries, and the rest is imported from Serbia, Russia, Hungary, and Slovenia.
[Box, p 9] Oil Documentation in 15 Boxes
Edhem Bicakcic, former B-H Federation prime minister and former Energoinvest director, used his political connections to move from Amoco to Sarajevo the entire documentation pertaining to the company's research of oil fields in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Fifteen boxes of documentation have been stored in Energoinvest's building in Sarajevo.
In Tuzla, Oil, Gas, Gushing in Backyard
Sarajevo - Last year, gas gushed out of the ground in front of a family house in the Tuzla suburb of Gornja Dubrava. Considering that gas always accompanies oil, it is not far from truth that the methane which surfaced in Gornje Dubrave could be an indicator of an oil reserve.
"This gas regularly accompanies oil or appears on its own as earth gas. This methane is a natural gas, and I am in favour of continuing the research. This area is very important; average temperatures are high, and this is another reason why this research should continue," Professor Rasim Delic of the Tuzla University said.
Originally published by Vecernji list (Bosnia-Hercegovina edition), Zagreb, in Croatian 21 May 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring European. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: BBC Monitoring European
21 May 2008
Kosovo Albanian journalist pleads not guilty for ratting on protected witness
MIKE CORDER
May 21, 2008 3:00 PM
THE HAGUE, Netherlands-An award-winning ethnic Albanian newspaper editor pleaded not guilty Wednesday to contempt of court for allegedly publishing the name of a protected witness at the U.N. war crimes trial of Kosovo's former prime minister.
Baton Haxhiu, editor of Kosovo daily Express, faces a maximum sentence of seven years or a fine of up to €100,000 (US$156,600) if convicted by the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
"I am absolutely not guilty," said Haxhiu.
Prosecutor's say the editor's reporting of the trial of Ramush Haradinaj violated a court order banning publication of a witness' identity. Public disclosure of his name is still banned by the court.
Although Haradinaj was acquitted earlier this year, the judges acknowledged his trial was plagued by fears of retribution against witnesses. Of 81 witnesses summoned, the identities of 34 were protected, a far higher percentage than normal. Prosecutors have appealed his acquittal.
Haxhiu is the sixth Kosovo Albanian charged with contempt of court in the trial of Haradinaj and two other defendants, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj. The charges against two unwilling witnesses were dropped soon after they agreed to give evidence. Shefqet Kabashi is awaiting trial as he repeatedly refused to testify.
Former Kosovo culture minister Astrit Haraqija and Bajrush Morina were recently indicted for trying to pressure a witness into not testifying in The Hague. Their trial is scheduled to open on June 16.
Haxhiu previously had appeared at the tribunal as a prosecution witness in two other trials, including the genocide case against former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.
On Wednesday, Judge Alphons Orie did not set a trial date and ordered Haxhiu detained, despite his lawyer asking for his release because Haxhiu's father is suffering prostate cancer. Orie indicated, however, that Haxhiu would be freed as soon as his lawyer filed a written request for his release.
The court in the past has convicted three other journalists of contempt, prompting criticism from press freedom watchdogs.
On Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders criticized the fact that Haxhiu was detained in Kosovo, but said it was "understandable" the court would want to question a reporter suspected of breaching a witness protection order.
"But we can only regret the methods used to ensure his cooperation," the Paris-based group said in a statement. "It seems that Haxhiu was entirely ready to cooperate freely with the ICTY, so his arrest could have been avoided."
A court spokeswoman defended Haxhiu's indictment.
"It illustrates that the tribunal and prosecution take very seriously the issue of the protection of witnesses," said prosecution office spokeswoman Olga Kavran. "In cases such as this, where people choose to violate tribunal orders and ... publish information about protection of witnesses, they will be brought to trial on contempt charges."
In 1999, Haxhiu was honored with an International Press Freedom Award by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, for his impartial reporting of the crisis in Kosovo and for publishing the independent Pristina daily Koha Ditore, despite harassment and death threats.
The paper's offices were torched in 1999 and a guard killed. NATO reported that Haxhiu had been killed, but actually he had fled to Macedonia. Later he recalled sitting in a basement hideout and watching international news reports of his own death.
May 21, 2008 3:00 PM
THE HAGUE, Netherlands-An award-winning ethnic Albanian newspaper editor pleaded not guilty Wednesday to contempt of court for allegedly publishing the name of a protected witness at the U.N. war crimes trial of Kosovo's former prime minister.
Baton Haxhiu, editor of Kosovo daily Express, faces a maximum sentence of seven years or a fine of up to €100,000 (US$156,600) if convicted by the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
"I am absolutely not guilty," said Haxhiu.
Prosecutor's say the editor's reporting of the trial of Ramush Haradinaj violated a court order banning publication of a witness' identity. Public disclosure of his name is still banned by the court.
Although Haradinaj was acquitted earlier this year, the judges acknowledged his trial was plagued by fears of retribution against witnesses. Of 81 witnesses summoned, the identities of 34 were protected, a far higher percentage than normal. Prosecutors have appealed his acquittal.
Haxhiu is the sixth Kosovo Albanian charged with contempt of court in the trial of Haradinaj and two other defendants, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj. The charges against two unwilling witnesses were dropped soon after they agreed to give evidence. Shefqet Kabashi is awaiting trial as he repeatedly refused to testify.
Former Kosovo culture minister Astrit Haraqija and Bajrush Morina were recently indicted for trying to pressure a witness into not testifying in The Hague. Their trial is scheduled to open on June 16.
Haxhiu previously had appeared at the tribunal as a prosecution witness in two other trials, including the genocide case against former Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic.
On Wednesday, Judge Alphons Orie did not set a trial date and ordered Haxhiu detained, despite his lawyer asking for his release because Haxhiu's father is suffering prostate cancer. Orie indicated, however, that Haxhiu would be freed as soon as his lawyer filed a written request for his release.
The court in the past has convicted three other journalists of contempt, prompting criticism from press freedom watchdogs.
On Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders criticized the fact that Haxhiu was detained in Kosovo, but said it was "understandable" the court would want to question a reporter suspected of breaching a witness protection order.
"But we can only regret the methods used to ensure his cooperation," the Paris-based group said in a statement. "It seems that Haxhiu was entirely ready to cooperate freely with the ICTY, so his arrest could have been avoided."
A court spokeswoman defended Haxhiu's indictment.
"It illustrates that the tribunal and prosecution take very seriously the issue of the protection of witnesses," said prosecution office spokeswoman Olga Kavran. "In cases such as this, where people choose to violate tribunal orders and ... publish information about protection of witnesses, they will be brought to trial on contempt charges."
In 1999, Haxhiu was honored with an International Press Freedom Award by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, for his impartial reporting of the crisis in Kosovo and for publishing the independent Pristina daily Koha Ditore, despite harassment and death threats.
The paper's offices were torched in 1999 and a guard killed. NATO reported that Haxhiu had been killed, but actually he had fled to Macedonia. Later he recalled sitting in a basement hideout and watching international news reports of his own death.
20 May 2008
State Dept. Report on Terrorism - Kosovo
Posted by Julia Gorin under Republican Riot
The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) continued to monitor suspected terrorist activity with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG). Officials believed that a few of the more than 400 NGOs operating in Kosovo were involved in suspicious activities, and sought to prevent extremists from using NGOs to gain a foothold in Kosovo. Consequently, municipalities authorized NGO use of public facilities for religious gatherings only if the relevant religious community consented.
The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and UNMIK Police Counterterrorism Units (CTUs) were primarily responsible for Kosovo's counterterrorism efforts, but were small and lacked resources…Porous boundary lines that were easily crossed by individuals trafficking in people, weapons, and narcotics hampered Kosovo's counterterrorism efforts. The Kosovo border police service lacked basic equipment, and only had a mandate to patrol the green border (areas that lack official, manned border, or administrative boundary line gates) from two to three kilometers beyond the actual border and boundary lines. NATO-KFOR roving teams patrolled the green border right up to the actual border and administrative boundary lines, but numerous passable roads and trails that lead to Kosovo lack border or boundary gates. Moreover, poorly paid border and customs officials were susceptible to corruption.
Witness intimidation was also an obstacle to combating terrorism in Kosovo. UNMIK's Department of Justice reported that it created a Witness Protection Task Force to address this issue. The Task Force reportedly worked on constructing a new safe house in Kosovo….According to the UNMIK Department of Justice (DOJ), there were three terrorism-related convictions, and seven terrorism cases underway with local judges and prosecutors. International prosecutors and the Kosovo Special Prosecutor's Office (KSPO) also initiated four terrorism-related investigations and filed two indictments, which were pending confirmation at year's end. One of the indictments was related to Albanian National Army (AKSH) activity, and one of the investigations involved the Front for Albanian National Unification (FBKSH), the AKSH's political wing.
The AKSH, which UNMIK designated as a terrorist organization in 2003, continued to intimidate Kosovo citizens. In June, its Tirana-based spokesman, Gafurr Adili, told Kosovo media that AKSH members in several Kosovo towns had distributed leaflets threatening violence if the Serbian paramilitary group Tsar Lazar Guard ventured into Kosovo for the annual June 28th commemoration of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo. Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) war veteran leader Abdyl Mushkolaj also made similar threats, adding to concerns over the commemoration. As a result, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) issued an executive decision prohibiting the Tsar Lazar Guard or any paramilitary group from carrying out activities in Kosovo. The commemoration passed without incident.
In an October interview on Radio Television Kosovo (RTK), heavily armed, masked individuals in black uniforms bearing the AKSH insignia appeared from an undisclosed location described as an AKSH training facility near the administrative boundary line with Serbia…AKSH had long claimed to operate only in areas outside of KFOR or Kosovo Protection Corps control, and was reportedly also active in southern Serbia and western Macedonia.
The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) continued to monitor suspected terrorist activity with the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG). Officials believed that a few of the more than 400 NGOs operating in Kosovo were involved in suspicious activities, and sought to prevent extremists from using NGOs to gain a foothold in Kosovo. Consequently, municipalities authorized NGO use of public facilities for religious gatherings only if the relevant religious community consented.
The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and UNMIK Police Counterterrorism Units (CTUs) were primarily responsible for Kosovo's counterterrorism efforts, but were small and lacked resources…Porous boundary lines that were easily crossed by individuals trafficking in people, weapons, and narcotics hampered Kosovo's counterterrorism efforts. The Kosovo border police service lacked basic equipment, and only had a mandate to patrol the green border (areas that lack official, manned border, or administrative boundary line gates) from two to three kilometers beyond the actual border and boundary lines. NATO-KFOR roving teams patrolled the green border right up to the actual border and administrative boundary lines, but numerous passable roads and trails that lead to Kosovo lack border or boundary gates. Moreover, poorly paid border and customs officials were susceptible to corruption.
Witness intimidation was also an obstacle to combating terrorism in Kosovo. UNMIK's Department of Justice reported that it created a Witness Protection Task Force to address this issue. The Task Force reportedly worked on constructing a new safe house in Kosovo….According to the UNMIK Department of Justice (DOJ), there were three terrorism-related convictions, and seven terrorism cases underway with local judges and prosecutors. International prosecutors and the Kosovo Special Prosecutor's Office (KSPO) also initiated four terrorism-related investigations and filed two indictments, which were pending confirmation at year's end. One of the indictments was related to Albanian National Army (AKSH) activity, and one of the investigations involved the Front for Albanian National Unification (FBKSH), the AKSH's political wing.
The AKSH, which UNMIK designated as a terrorist organization in 2003, continued to intimidate Kosovo citizens. In June, its Tirana-based spokesman, Gafurr Adili, told Kosovo media that AKSH members in several Kosovo towns had distributed leaflets threatening violence if the Serbian paramilitary group Tsar Lazar Guard ventured into Kosovo for the annual June 28th commemoration of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo. Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) war veteran leader Abdyl Mushkolaj also made similar threats, adding to concerns over the commemoration. As a result, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) issued an executive decision prohibiting the Tsar Lazar Guard or any paramilitary group from carrying out activities in Kosovo. The commemoration passed without incident.
In an October interview on Radio Television Kosovo (RTK), heavily armed, masked individuals in black uniforms bearing the AKSH insignia appeared from an undisclosed location described as an AKSH training facility near the administrative boundary line with Serbia…AKSH had long claimed to operate only in areas outside of KFOR or Kosovo Protection Corps control, and was reportedly also active in southern Serbia and western Macedonia.
Wrong side on Kosovo
Re "Kosovo, Quebec two different stories" (March 20) - I was very surprised and very sorry that Canada joined the U.S.A. and some other countries to approve that Kosovo was taken away from my Serbian brothers and declared an independent country, which makes it sound like Kosovo wanted to leave Serbia. That was the biggest lie, showing that Prime Minister Harper does not know much about the history of Kosovo which is a sacred place for my Serbian brothers, just like Rome is to Italians.
During the Turkish (Ottoman) invasion of Europe on their way to Vienna, thousands of Serbians lost their lives, fighting with Turks at Kosovo to stop them progressing to Europe. However today, Albanians want to occupy Kosovo and area and populate it with Albanians.
But who actually happened to start this Kosovo problem? The article from Canadian Press printed in The Examiner did not mention that Albanians are the reason the "liberation" of Kosovo started.
I will tell Mr. Harper the real truth. After the end of the Second World War, Albanian Prime Minister Enver Hodja asked our Prime Minister, J.B. Tito, for help because Albania is a very poor country with not enough food to feed them all. So Tito decided to take several thousand Albanian families and bring them to Kosovo at the Albanian border. However when you are good to somebody, in many cases, you pay for your goodness. Those Albanians used night to smuggle relatives and neighbours over the border mountains and filled the area to the point that Serbs, who were still tired from the war, started moving to other parts of Serbia rather than fighting again.
Now Albanians claim Kosovo as their land and announce that they want to liberate Kosovo. Unfortunately when Tito passed away the situation worsened. To declare Kosovo independent is just a cover and 30 countries recognized the new country Kosovo, including Canada, against the protest of Serbia - but Albania will take it over without any problem to these 30 countries. But as the article stated, two dozen countries sided with the Serbs, including Russia and Slavic brothers of Serbs.
As for me, I felt that after Tito's death Yugoslavia would disappear so I decided before it happened to leave, and in 1951, I chose Canada as the best country in this world and today I am a very proud Canadian citizen
ZLATKO ALBERT Charlotte Street
Kosovo Muslim police brutally beats Serb
May 20, 2006
Serb National Council for Kosovo has condemned in the most harsh terms the behavior of the so-called Kosovo police service officers or KPS who have beaten a Serb youngster in Gracanica.
KPS officers are overwhelmingly Muslim Albanians who have violently seized control of this Serbian province.
Serb National Council for Kosovo says that KPS routinely maltreats citizens in Serb regions.
The Council demanded an urgent return of Serb policemen to the ranks of the provincial police under UNMIK's command.
The brutal detention and beating of the Serb youngster has additionally disturbed the inhabitants of central Kosovo and at the same time showed what would be the position of Serbs in some quasi-state of Kosovo, reads the statement.
Serb National Council for Kosovo has condemned in the most harsh terms the behavior of the so-called Kosovo police service officers or KPS who have beaten a Serb youngster in Gracanica.
KPS officers are overwhelmingly Muslim Albanians who have violently seized control of this Serbian province.
Serb National Council for Kosovo says that KPS routinely maltreats citizens in Serb regions.
The Council demanded an urgent return of Serb policemen to the ranks of the provincial police under UNMIK's command.
The brutal detention and beating of the Serb youngster has additionally disturbed the inhabitants of central Kosovo and at the same time showed what would be the position of Serbs in some quasi-state of Kosovo, reads the statement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
