Wednesday, August 20, 2008

BOSNIA CONTINUES WITH THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CRANS MONTANA FORUM

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 20,2008) - According to the decision of Bosnian government, the Bosnian Foreign Investment and Promotion Agency (FIPA) is appointed to be a technical organizer of the next Crans Montana Forum (CMF).

Crans Montana Forum is one of the most authoritative world Forums, as well as a place and meeting point of key decision makers from EU and Golf countries, since 1989.

Dynamic preparations related to the Forum organization are underway in compliance with schedule. In spite of the vacation season, about hundred participates have already registered at the official page of Crans Montana Forum www.cmf.ch to participate this event, what presents an encouraging fact for its success.

The Crans Montana Forum is an International Organization created in 1986 whose importance and prestige are well-established.

CMF works for the promotion of international cooperation and contributes to global growth while ensuring a high level of stability, equity and security. The aim is also to foster the best practices and ensure a global dialogue.

The first Crans Montana Forum was dedicated to the political and economic reconstruction of the post Cold War Europe. Since this first event, the Forum has continued to contribute and create meeting opportunities for its participants.

FIPA has for the last two months responded to numerous inquires of sponsors interested in Crans Montana Forum.

In addition to this FIPA has held two special presentations in Sarajevo and Banja Luka for the most prominent companies in Bosnia and for investors explaining main goals and expectations of the Forum.

Currently FIPA together with CMF headquarter finalizing a preliminary program which will be published soon on the official FIPA website http://www.fipa.gov.ba/ as well as on the official website of the Crans Montana Forum (www.cmf.ch).

Crans Montana Forum will be held in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo in the period from 7th to 10th October 2008 in the Radon Plaza Hotel.

The three proposed topics to be discussed at the Forum are: Transport, European Integrations and Tourism.
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THE BOSNIAN FOREIGN TRADE MINISTER MET WITH THE DELEGATION OF THE JAPAN BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 20,2008) - The Bosnian Foreign Trade Minister Mladen Zirojevic met with the delegation of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

The Japanese delegation arrived to Bosnia with the intention to assess the request for the project of the cleaning of sulphur from thermal power plant (TE) Ugljevik," the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations informed.

Minister Zirojevic emphasized the importance of the project and confirmed great interest of the Bosnian side for this project as well as pointed out that terms, which are being offered by this bank, were extremely favourable.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation, (JBIC), is a Japanese governmental financial aid institution created in October 1, 1999, through the merging of the Export-Import Bank of Japan (JEXIM) and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, Japan (OECF).

The bank's capital is totally Japanese, and its budget and operations are regulated by Japanese laws, namely, the JBIC law. Its main office is located in Tokyo, but the bank can maintain subsidiary offices overseas. The main purpose of the institution is to promote economical cooperation between Japan and other countries, by providing resources to foreign investments and by fostering international commerce. It also has a major role in promoting Japanese exports and imports, and the country's activities overseas.

The bank's presence can be seen both in developed and developing countries. It tries to contribute to the stability of the international financial order and to the promotion of sustainable development. It follows a policy of not competing with ordinary financial institutions. The bank is one of the instruments of Japan's official development assistance (ODA), which contributes to the execution of the country's foreign policy.

As it aims at sustainable development, JBIC is concerned about social and environmental issues, and requires Environmental Impact Assessment studies in order to provide funding to any project.
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TWO WITNESSES TESTIFIED TODAY BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT AT TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL MOMIR SAVIC

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 20,2008) - Two Prosecution witnesses, who testified today at the trial of Serbian war criminal Momir Savic, said before Bosnian State Court that he personally ordered the deportation of Bosnian civilians from Drinsko settlement in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad in May 1992,during the early stages of the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

"Momir Savic invited us to meet him in Drinsko. About 30 or 40 Bosnians gathered there. He told us that we would have to leave our village by 11 or 12, adding that he could not give any guarantee to us that we would not be murdered afterwards," witness Mirsad Hubic said.

The Bosnian State Prosecution charges Serbian fascist Momir Savic, as member of the genocidal paramilitary fascist formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia,(VRS), with having participated in the deportation, capture, examination, torture, murder and rape of people in the Visegrad area in 1992.

Witness Mirsad Hubic left Drinsko village, together with nine neighbours, and headed towards Visegrad. On their way they saw a vehicle, from which three genocidal Serbian aggressor's soldiers got out. They forced these Bosnian civilians stay there.

"They held us there for an hour and a half. They examined us. They shot my father in his legs, telling him that he was wearing ressurrectionists' boots," the witness said, adding that they eventually released them. After that they managed to reach the area controlled by the Bosnian Army.

Second Prosecution witness Almasa Hadzic left Drinsko in 1992. She said that she saw Serbian war criminal Momir Savic at the cemetery in Drinsko and then again in Visegrad. She claims that he was armed and uniformed both times.

"We were forced to leave Drinsko. We were then taken to the school building in Nova mahala in Visegrad. Momir Savic came there, looking for Guso family members," Hadzic recalled, adding that her husband and son had been taken away before the civilians arrived to Visegrad. However, she did not say what had happened to them.

The trial of Serbian war criminal Momir Savic is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on August 25.
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TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS KRSTO SAVIC AND MILKO MUCIBABIC BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT CLOSED TO PUBLIC

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 20,2008) - At the trial of Serbian war criminals Krsto Savic and Milko Mucibabic, two Prosecution witnesses were examined before the Bosnian State Court today with no presence of the public.

The Trial Chamber decided to exclude the public from this hearing. Its decision was announced at a closed session.

"The public was excluded during the testimony of these witnesses before the Hague Tribunal. They testified under pseudonyms," Trial Chamber Chairwoman Minka Kreho said prior to excluding the public from the further course of the hearing.

The Bosnian State Prosecution charges Serbian war criminals Krsto Savic and Milko Mucibabic with participating in the crimes against Bosnian civilians from the Nevesinje, Kalinovik, Bileca and Gacko areas in 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia.


Serbian war criminals Krsto Savic and Milko Mucibabic

The Bosnian State Prosecutor charges the two Serbian fascists with murder, rape, forcible resettlement, disappearances, demolition of property, detention, capture and physical and mental torture of Bosnian civilians.

The trial of Serbian war criminals Savic and Mucibabic started in May 2008. The two Serbian war criminals were arrested, as per a warrant issued by the Bosnian State Prosecution, in September 2007.

The trial is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court tomorrow,on August 21.
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GENOCIDAL SERBIA DEVELOPS FASCIST TOURISM

BELGRADE, Serbia (August 20,2008) - Until recently, a small Serbian fascist pub named the Mad House in the New Belgrade suburb of the city was known only to a few people, mainly residents of nearby concrete tower blocks. But that changed after one of its regulars, who happened to be one of the most wanted war criminals in Europe, was arrested last month.

The capture of former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against the Bosnian people, committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia,Serbian fascist Radovan Karadzic – who it is claimed often drank in the pub – has suddenly placed the Mad House in the spotlight.

These days, Serbian fascists flock to the bar, now included on a Belgrade sightseeing tour – called Following Karadzic’s Footsteps – which includes places where Serbian war criminal lived and socialised while he hid from justice under a false identity.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was captured on July 21 in an undisclosed location in a Belgrade suburb. The accused, however, claims he was detained three days before, in a bus taking him to a vacation spot outside the city.

Before he was arrested, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic spent several years disguised as long-haired, bearded alternative health guru "Dragan Dabic", and moved freely throughout the genocidal Serbia.

It was as Dragan Dabic that Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic allegedly frequented the Mad House.

A regular client of the pub who wished to remain anonymous said that most fascist tourists who come here order Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s favourite red wine Medvedja krv – Bear’s Blood – and some even ask to have it served in the glass he used.

“I don’t think there is a particular glass he used. It is a trick used by the pub’s owners to cash in on Karadzic,” he said.

Above the table at which the owners claim Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic regularly sat is a photo of him along with former commander of the genocidal paramilitary fascist formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS) and war crimes fugitive ,Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic. Next to that hangs a picture of the late Yugoslav president Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milosevic. The photos have apparently hung in the same place for the last ten years.

Serbian and foreign fascist tourists can also visit a bakery and a pancake house in which Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic reportedly ate; see his home in Block 45, a district of concrete tower blocks; and hop on a bus on the same route as the one on which he was allegedly arrested.

Tanja Bogdanov, director of Belgrade fascist tourist agency Vekol Tours which organises this tour, says the addition to the regular sightseeing trip around Belgrade has been "a great success".

She stresses that the fascist tour has no political connotations whatsoever (???).

“It is important to say that our guides are not allowed to say anything while taking the tourists through Block 45 in New Belgrade. We don’t want to express any political opinions,” she said.

Bogdanov explains that was made at the request of their foreign partners and has been specially arranged to cater for foreign fascists.

“I am a tourist worker, and [the sites are] an attraction,” she explained.

Judging by the droves of Serbian fascists signing up for this tour, it seems that many are fascinated with Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s ability to avoid arrest for so long.

However, some in the region find this morbid interest in the war crimes suspect distasteful.

“It is sad that tourist packages celebrating the real great people of this country do not exist, but we have a Belgrade tour dedicated to Radovan Karadzic,” said expert on Serbian culture Milena Sesic Dragicevic.

Dragicevic said that people should set aside their pre-occupation with Karadzic, and instead face up to the atrocities committed by Serbians during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

“On the surface, this may seem like a smart business move, but it actually shows the real depth of a moral and ethical crisis in our society. Everyone now talks about Radovan Karadzic, aka Dragan Dabic, but people in Serbia still do not talk about Srebrenica,” she added.

Prominent Belgrade-based movie director Gorcin Stojanovic agrees.

“A tour named Following Karadzic’s Footsteps should actually be organised in Bosnia, and it should include all places where horrible war crimes were committed, of which Karadzic has been accused,” he said. “That tour would be something.”

Serbian war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic have been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for genocide and war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.
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BOSNIAN STATE COURT SENTENCES CROATIAN WAR CRIMINAL NIKOLA ANDRUN TO 18 YEARS IN PRISON

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 20,2008) - The Appellate Panel of Section I for War Crimes of the Bosnian State Court granted the appeals filed by the Bosnian State Prosecutor’s Office and the Defense Counsel for Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun and revoked the first-instance Verdict by which Croatian war criminal was found guilty of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Bosnian civilians and sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment, and yesterday,on 19 August 2008,delivered the second-instance Verdict by which the Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun was found guilty of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Bosnian civilians and sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment.

In the operative part of the Verdict, the Appellate Panel stated that Nikola Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun, as the Deputy Gabela Concentration Camp Commander,from June to September 1993,during the Croatian aggressio against Bosnia in the Gabela Camp, together with other Croatian fascist aggressor's soldiers, participated in the murders and torture of the detained Bosnian civilians and subjected them to inhumane treatment.


Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun

The Bosnian State Court, inter alia, established that the Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun, together with another Croatian fascist barbarian, in late September or early October 1993, took out a detained Bosnian civilian from the Gabela concentration camp and took him to in Čapljina, where he himself participated in his mental and physical abuse.

It was further established that Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun, on an unspecified date in September 1993, in the afternoon hours, came to one of the hangars in the Gabela concentration camp, and took one of the detained Bosnian civilians out of there, and he had been unaccounted for until his mortal remains were exhumed and identified in 1996.

The Bosnian State Court established that Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun on an unidentified date in October 1993, in the evening hours, in the Gabela concentration camp, after a detained Bosnian civilian refused to comply with his order, he entered the hangar together with an Croatian fascist aggressor's soldier known to him, took the Bosnian civilian out of the hangar, whereupon several unknown Croatian fascist barbarians, in the presence of Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun, tortured the detained Bosnian civilian, whereupon he died.

Further on, on two occasions, in August and September 1993, together with the Gabela concentration camp commander, Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun transferred a group of Bosnian civilians from the Gabela concentration camp to the Silos concentration camp near the southern Bosnian town of Čapljina, with the aim to prevent the employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross to make a list of these Bosnian civilians.

Croatian war criminal Nikola Andrun is acquitted of the charge that in early July 1993 he took part in the inhumane treatment of a group of detained Bosnian civilians.

"The number of crimes, unnecessary cruelty, the fact that he was deputy concentration camp commander determined the verdict as it is now," said Appellate Chamber Chairwoman Azra Miletic.

"Andrun was not forced to commit those crimes, but he deliberately caused physical and mental suffering on the basis of discriminatory treatment of Bosnian civilians. He had the power to take detainees out of the concentration camp, which means that his actions were deliberate and premeditated," Miletic explained.
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TALK OF NATURALISM AND ARTIFICE STIRS SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 20,2008) - Sarajevo is not a city easily intimidated by the odds. Its citizens withstood a 44 month siege by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor that pounded it daily,during the 1992-1995 Serbin aggression against Bosnia,from the surrounding picturesque hills, while the world mostly looked the other way. And even as the snipers and fire bombs continued, the city, like many others around the world, started its own film festival. And again beating the odds, Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, has managed to consistently attract big names and an impressive slate of films in a crowded festival circuit. And this in a city,while slowly working its way into modern Europe ,that is is hardly a deep-pocketed shiekdom with money to throw around. Perhaps one of its biggest pluses, however, are its enthusiastic audiences which bring Toronto-sized enthusiasm to screenings.

Not only are the higher profile films well attended, but even relatively unknown titles from lesser known filmmakers have screened consistently well at the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival, even in larger venues during the middle of the work week. An impressive number of people came out early yesterday morning for a discussion on naturalism vs. artifice in film, moderated by former Village Voice film editor (and indieWIRE writer) Howard Feinstein, who programs the festival's large and popular Panorama section.

And the audience was rewarded with a terrific line-up of opinionated filmmakers to hear and interact with. There was a mix of both well-estabished and emerging folks, including Bosnian film director Aida Begic, whose debut feature, "Snow" opened the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival over the weekend with great fanfare. Also joining the discussion was fellow Bosnian film director Danis Tanovic, whose 2001 feature "No Man's Land" won the Oscar for best foreign-language film, "Man on Wire" director James Marsh, "Stranded" director Gonzalo Arijon (Chile), "Jar City" director Baltasar Kormakur and Israeli-German director, Lior Shamriz ("Japan Japan").

"My career started as a student in war," said Tanovic.

"I was in a member of the Bosnian Army and realized nobody was filming. I was never interested in doing documentary...I was into Spielberg, flying dragons etc. But [documentary] is all about risking your life to get the shot, and when I went to film school in Belgium, pure fiction seemed artificial to me..."

With that background, Tanovic formed his style with a documentary background, even in his narrative features, though he is a vocal advocate for approaching the subject with focus and preparation.

"When I did go to do a feature film, it was in a 'documentary' style - something perhaps shown [over the course] of one day. [But] even when you're maing documentaries, you make choices," he said.

Arijon, whose IDFA '07 doc "Stranded" is screening in Sarajevo, said that the subject and the film process itself revealed the route to a finished project. His doc recalls the harrowing survival of plane crash victims in the Andes mountains in the early '70s in which survivors engaged in cannibalism in order to make it through.

"The survivors are my friends, and it was important for me to tell this story, though they were reluctant," said Arijon. With a lack of any footage from the tragic event, Arion decided to not rely heavily on re-enactments to tell the story and relate the horrific event to the audience, using backdrops of a sun-lit sky when interviewing the subjects.

"The natural light inspired the survivors to talk to me, [and it] jarred fragments of their memory. These aren't re-enactments, but the atmosphere recalls the situation from long ago."

"The story I'm telling is true, but it's so unreal," said "Man on Wire"'s James Marsh whose film recalls high-wire artist Philippe Petit's 1974 feat walking the tightrope between the Twin Towers in New York.

"I felt it was important to hae some stylized reconstructions to show how this could occur... It's like a heist story because Philippe had watched police films and that is what inspired him to plan and break into the Twin Towers with all these other goof-balls around him. I think that's why I think it works in America because it recalls superheroes like Batman, but it's real. He's sort of a superhero doing this and it's subversive at the same time."

Balancing re-enactment and how much to bring the director's point-of-view in filmmaking naturally made for some lively discussion during the panel, which was an event planned for Sarajevo's Talent Campus participants but open to the press and public.

"In 'Snow,' it is a combination of documentary-style with [articism], to achieve a poetic film that is also naturalistic," said Aida Begic. "The camera [was held] on the shoulder so as to [bring out] what's inside the character."

"Any art is a metaphor and should be a balance between naturalism and artifice... It's dangerous to go too far into naturalism as in the Dogma movement or too far in artifice as in 'Amelie.' There's a constant struggle between [both]."

"The camera is a window to reality, that's quite basic to cinema," said "Japan Japan"'s Lior Sharmiz.

"Before I did cinema, I learned to manipulate pictures and they seemed as real to me as all other pictures... I take a 'documentary' of reality and then manipulate it. I can shoot something that doesn't seem realistic but appears so..." he said.

Tanovic chimed in that a laissez faire vs. strict top down construction of a story can both work, but sees barriers.

"I agree and disagree... I'm a total control freak. There are scenes you can improvise, but only when you come totally prepared with your vision. It's like 'boxes.' The actor and the cameraman can dow what they want within that box, but if they go outside the box [I invision] then I bring them back in," Tanovic said.

Shamriz countered Tanovic's approach saying he prefers a more democratic collaborative process with people in his work and the outcome can take on an entirely new result.

"'Japan Japan' is partly autobiographical, but partly isn't," he said about the finished product which uses a hodge podge of scenes of reality and images from the Internet to tell the story of a disaffected former Israeli soldier's quest to find meaning, but lapses in a personal void that seems to stagnate him. "For me the camera is not valid. Most of the images I see are on the Internet."

Though Tanovic argued the filmmaker's control was always present and important he conceded the filmmaking approach is nevertheless left wide open. "In the end there are [ultimately] no rules. You have to find your own approach," Tanovic concluded.
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