BOSNIA TO COMMEMORATE 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA

SREBRENICA, Bosnia (July 2,2008) – Next week,more than 40,000 Bosnians are expected to attend a commemoration for the 13th anniversary of the genocide against Bosnian civilians,committed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Srebrenica Mayor Abdurahman Malkic confirmed that some 330 genocide victims will be buried during the ceremony at the Genocide Memorial Centre near Srebrenica.

The genocide victims exhumed from several mass graves in eastern Bosnia and identified through sophisticated DNA analysis would be buried next to some 3,000 genocide victims from Srebrenica.

Up to 10,000 Bosnian civilians were mass murdered by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.

The remains of an unknown number of genocide victims exhumed in the last couple of years from more than 60 mass graves in eastern Bosnia and currently packed in more than 5,000 bags are still awaiting identification and proper burial.

Former leaders of the Serbians living in Bosnia,Serbian war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remain at large nearly 13 years after The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicted them for genocide and other war crimes.
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BOSNIAN PRESIDENT HARIS SILAJDZIC ENDED HIS FIVE-DAY VISIT TO MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 2,2008) – During the last day of his official visit to Malaysia, the Bosnian President Dr Haris Silajdžić visited the Museum of Islamic Arts in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur today.

His host was Tansri Said Mukta Al Bukhari, a benefactor of the museum and a great art lover. He is the Al Bukhari Foundation President, which provided scholarship for the Bosnian students in Malaysia.

In the Museum of Islamic Arts, there is a permanent exhibition of various historical periods and from numerous countries.

After that, President Silajdžić visited the Petronas Twin Tower, the largest twin towers in the world. Their host was Datuk Nasarudin Md. Idris, the Vice-President of the Petronas Corporation.

The Petronas Towers have 93 floors, 86 of them are being used as headquarters of numerous companies, business spaces, shopping centers and the headquarters of the Petronas petrochemical company, after which the towers were named and which invested in their construction. On the 42nd floor, there is a bridge that connects the two towers. Setups of the Petronas towers and of the city of Kuala Lumpur are on the 88th floor, as well as numerous photographs depicting the course of the construction and the formal opening ceremony in 1996.

One tower was built by the Japanese companies and the other one by the Korean companies.Both towers were designed by an Argentinean architect. The Petronas Towers are tourist attraction and people from all over the world come to see the biggest “twin towers” in the world.

At the end of the official visit to Malaysia, a farewell meeting with the Malaysian King Yang Di Pertuan Agong was arranged for the Bosnian President Dr Haris Silajdžić in his residence Istan Negar.

After the meeting in the residence, the Malaysian King Yang Di Pertuan Agong, President Silajdžić greeted the honorary unit of the King’s Guard at the farewell meeting and anthems of Bosnia and Malaysia were played afterwards, which completed his official visit to Malaysia.
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TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS GOJKO KLICKOVIC,JOVAN OSTOJIC AND MLADEN DRLJACA TO CONTINUE ON JULY 8

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 2,2008) – A Prosecution witness testified yesterday before the Bosnian State Court about his detention by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in the Bosnain town of Bosanska Krupa in 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia, claiming this was "the worst period" in his life.

Prosecution witness Emir Hasic said that, on April 25, 1992 he and his stepmother had to leave their apartment in Bosanska Krupa. After that they were separated. He was detained in the school building in Jasenica and his stepmother was forced by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor to leave the town.

"When they brought us to the school in Jasenica,I was examined, before an improvised "court", by a person known as Mladjo. I suppose his name was Mladen. He asked me about some objects, which were laid down on the table. He said they were called 'Serb-cutters', adding that the Bosnian Patriotic League members wanted to use them to kill Serbians living in Bosnia," Hasic said.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor charges Serbian war criminals Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca with crimes committed in Bosanska Krupa area in the course of 1991 and 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia. The indictment against Serbian war criminals Klickovic and Drljaca states that they illegally detained and "tried" Bosnian civilians. The third Serbian war criminal was allegedly a presiding judge with this court.

"You do look like that person," Hasic said, addressing Mladen Drljaca in the courtroom. Later on he said that he was the person who interrigated him in Jasenica.

This witness said that he suffered "the most traumatic experiences" when he was detained by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in a concentration camp in Bosanska Krupa, in which the detained Bosnian civilians were "categorised" and tortured on a daily basis.

"I think that the detained Bosnian civilians were categorised in some way, because members of the Bosnian Patriotic League and politically active detainees or members of the Party for Democratic Action, SDA, were taken out and mistreated more often than the other detainees," Hasic said, adding that he was tortured by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's soldiers three times.

"This was the worst period in my life and I want to forget it," Hasic said.

Hasic and other detained Bosnian civilians were taken out to perform forced labour. One of the locations to which they were taken was the court building in Bosanska Krupa, where he saw Serbian war criminal Miroslav Vjestica. The witness said that Vjestica told him that he would be exchanged in "about ten days," which proved to be true.

Available data suggest that the Bosnian State Prosecutor is conducting an investigation against Serbian war criminal Miroslav Vjestica, due to a suspicion that he participated in war crimes committed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in the Bosanska Krupa area.

The trial of Serbian war criminals Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on July 8, 2008.
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STATUS CONFERENCE IN THE CASE OF CROATIAN WAR CRIMINAL ANTE KOVAC SCHEDULED FOR JULY 3

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 2,2008) – A status conference before the Section I for War Crimes of the Bosnian State Court, in the case of Croatian war criminal Ante Kovać, has been scheduled for July 3, 2008 starting at 09:00 a.m. in courtroom 5.

Croatian war criminal Ante Kovać is charged with the criminal offence of War crimes against Bosnian civilians committed during the Croatian aggression against Bosnia in the early 1990's.

As stated in the Indictment, during the period from April to end-August 1993, in the territory of the Vitez Municipality, in his capacity as a member of the Croatian fascist aggressor's formations, Croatian war criminal Ante Kovać issued orders to other Croatian fascist aggressor's soldiers and together with them took part in the unlawful arrest and detention of Bosnian civilians.

Around 250 Bosnian civilians were detained in a small space, in inhumane conditions on the premises of the Radnički University and the Cinema Theater in Vitez.

The Croatian fascist aggressor would take the detained Bosnian civilians for interrogation and forced labor at the separation line between the Croatian fascist aggressor's forces and the Bosnian Army, exposing them to life-threatening condition, which is when a number of detained Bosnian civilians were killed.

The Indictment goes on to say that on 18 April 1993 Croatian war criminal Ante Kovać took a Bosnian woman from the SDK premises and forced her into the so-called Crnogorka building, where he raped her.

The Indictment further states that on 30 August 1993 Croatian war criminal Ante Kovać raped one Bosnian woman on the premises of the Dom Kulture (Culture Center) and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
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BASCARSIJA NIGHTS FESTIVAL OPENS IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 2,2008) – Bosnia's largest summer festival Bascarsijske Noci (the Bascarsija Nights festival) opened yesterday evening in Sarajevo's Old Town or Bascarsija.

Traditionally, the festival opens with a Viennese concert, but this year the world premiere of the opera Lyssi by French composer Eric Breton opened the event, also marking the French EU presidency.

More than 1,500 artists from 20 countries will present their work through 38 programmes during the 31-day-long festival.

Festival organizers of the festival expect a strong showing at a concert by famous American folk singer and songwriter Joan Baez, scheduled for July 16.

Music and theatre performances, as well as exhibitions, take place at 15 different locations in the downtown Sarajevo, including its streets and squares.

The main stage will be located in front of the Bosnian National Library, which was badly damaged by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.
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IRELAND SUPPORTS BOSNIA'S EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 2,2008) – The International Community's Principal Deputy High Representative in Bosnia Raffi Gregorian met yesterday with the Ambassador of Ireland to Bosnia Patrick A. McCabe.

During the meeting Gregorian briefed Ambassador McCabe on progress in the reform processes and the political situation in Bosnia following the signing of a Stabilization and Accession Agreement with the EU.

Ambassador McCabe confirmed that the Government of Ireland continues to fully support European integration of Bosnia and other countries in the southeastern Europe, and hopes that Bosnia will fulfill the necessary conditions for achieving that goal as soon as possible.

Ambassador McCabe stressed that the European Union does not accept or practice an approach in European integration which involves sub-state elements. Only States negotiate with the EU, and there can be no ambiguity over the single address that Brussels needs in the process of EU integration
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BOSNIA AND DENMARK SIGN VISA FACILITATION AGREEMENT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (July 2,2008) - A visa facilitation agreement was signed in Copenhagen today by representatives of Bosnia and Denmark. The agreement refers to 20 different categories of Bosnian citizens when they apply for visa to Denmark.

The Bosnian Minister of Security Tarik Sadovic thanked the Danish authorities for accepting a large number of refugees from Bosnia during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia, and for helping with the post-war reconstruction of Bosnia.

This agreement is just like the one Bosnia already signed with the EU in late 2007.
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