BOSNIAN PRESIDENT HARIS SILAJDZIC VISITS GREAT BRITAIN

LONDON, UK (July 25,2008) — The Bosnian President Haris Silajdžić met yesterday with officials of the British government, the Head of the British Parliamentary Group for Bosnia and other British Parliament Members during an official visit to the UK.

The Bosnian President Haris Silajdžić held a series of public appearances where the domineering subject was the arrest of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadžić and on those occasions, he warned about the consequences of the genocide project and ethnic cleansing and obstructions in implementation of Annex 7 concerning the return of refugees in Bosnia.

He also warned about obstructions in the state organs’ work and attempts by the Serbian fascists to again question the integrity and international sovereignty of Bosnia.
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SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC'S PROPERTY IN BOSNIA TO BE CONFISCATED

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 25,2008) — International officials in Bosnia say Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's property in Bosnia has to be confiscated and used to cover part of the $4.5 billion compensation a U.S. court ordered him to pay to the genocide survivors.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was one of the masterminds of the genocide against Bosnians,committed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia

Through the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, the genocide survivors who fled to the U.S. during the Bosnian 1992-95 war in which more than 100,000 people were killed, sought compensation from Karadzic. A jury decided on the sum of $4.5 billion in 2000.

The former leader of the Serbians living in Bosnia was a fugitive from justice for more than 12 years until his capture Monday.

Raffi Gregorian, deputy to Bosnia's international administrator Miroslav Lajcak, said today that options are being considered on how to confiscate Karadzic's property so a sum can be paid to the genocide survivors.

The International Community's Deputy High Representative in Bosnia Raffi Gregorian confirmed to Bosnian daily Dnevni Avaz that “a few years ago, Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic lost a number of lawsuits before U.S. courts, where he was found guilty of creating concentration camps in which Bosnian women were systematically raped.“

“Karadzic owes the victims several billion dollars. That’s why all his assets and property are of such significance and interest to the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and EUFOR, which recently had his house in Pale valued. They are considering options as to how to confiscate all that property, and how the victims could be reimbursed partially, or at least, symbolically compensated,“ Gregorian explained.

According to the daily, assets belonging to Karadzic’s close relatives as well as to his support network could also probably “come under the court’s microscope“.

Gregorian said that the members of Karadzic’s family were “the heart of the network that helped and is helping hide Serbian war criminals.“

“That’s why they are on the U.S. and EU black list, and that situation won’t change until Karadžić ends up in The Hague,“ he added.

Gregorian said that Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic’s support network and those of the two remaining fugitives were intertwined, and that Karadžić’s family were still a part of it.

A group of ten genocide survivors in the U.S. sued Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic in 1993 via lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including a campaign of rape and other sexual violence as a form of torture against both Bosnian women and men used by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

According to the Bosnian daily, those cases expanded the use of the Alien Tort Statute of 1789, which allows foreigners to bring suits for breaches of human rights committed anywhere in the world before U.S. courts.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, who was represented by Ramsey Clark, participated in the case until 1997, but later stopped attending hearings. In September 2000, a jury found him guilty of the said crimes, and ordered him to pay compensation of USD 4.5 billion to the genocide survivors.

A further suit was brought against the former Bosnian Serb leader in 1994 by a second group of victims in a case dubbed “Kadić versus Karadžić“, writes the Bosnian daily.

The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and severe breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the 1992-95 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Karadzic hid from justice for nearly 13 years before he was arrested. He had been living under a false identity and working in a private clinic in Belgrade as a doctor of alternative medicine.
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SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC STOLE IDENTITY OF ONE OF HIS VICTIMS

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 25,2008) — Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic is believed to have taken his new identity from a victim of the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, who eluded arrest as new age healer "Dragan Dabic", took the name from an innocent civilian killed in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo by one of his snipers, prosecutors claim.

More details also emerged of his arrest on a bus in the capital of the genocidal Serbia - Belgrade a few days ago. A witness said agents tried to yank off his "false beard" but pulled out clumps of hair, leaving him shouting in agony.

The woman said: "They tugged it so hard his head snapped down."

"They said, 'We've been following you for 15 days. You won't escape'."

Mladen Dabic, brother of Dragan Dabic, who was killed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in the 43-month siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo with at least 11,000 Bosnian civilians, said: "It seems likely my brother's identity was stolen. That's horrible.

"He was against everything Karadzic stood for. He died going to pick up humanitarian aid."

Prosecutors said Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, 63, got the false papers while former President of the genocidal Serbia Slobodan Milosevic's regime was still in power before 2000. He is due in court today - without the bushy white beard, long hair and glasses - for his appeal against extradition to The Hague, Netherlands, on genocide charges.

Meanwhile Mila Mileva Cicak, named by some Serbian papers as Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic's mistress, said she will sue over the claims. Mila said she did not know his identity and their relationship was "purely professional".
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BLAZEVIC TAKES OVER AS NEW COACH OF BOSNIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 25,2008) — Miroslav Blazevic signed a two-year contract to coach the Bosnian national football team yesterday.Blazevic, who led Croatia to a third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup, has replaced Meho Kodro, who was fired in May for refusing to prepare the team for a friendly with Iran.

Many Bosnian players had refused to play for the national team in protest at the perceived mismanagement within the Bosnian Football Association, but Blazevic said he has talked to most of them and they all agreed to come back.

He said he would take his job seriously and would try to move Bosnian football forward from its current position.

"I talked to most of the players from the team and none of them refused my invitation. If it happens that some of them do not come, the doors of the national team will be closed for him," Blazevic told reporters in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

"I will not beg anyone and will not ask twice," said Blazevic, who expressed his optimism in bettering the team's position in the forthcoming qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

During his career Blazevic, who was born in the central Bosnian town of Travnik 73 years ago, led more than 20 football teams, including the national teams of Switzerland, Iran and Croatia.

Blazevic's first concrete task with Bosnia will be a friendly against Bulgaria on August 20 in the central Bosnian town of Zenica.
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BOSNIAN GDP IN 2007 WAS 21,641 BILLION BOSNIAN MARKS

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 25,2008) - The Bosnian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 21,641 billion Bosnian Marks last year, Head of the Bosnian Statistics Agency Zdenko Milinovic has announced.

In a press conference in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, Milinovic said the Bosnian GDP had nominal annual growth of 13.18 per cent in 2007, and real-term growth of 6.84 per cent. GDP per capita was 5,633 Bosnian Marks (USD 3,940).

Trade accounted for the biggest share in the Bosnian GDP growth (14.88 per cent).
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BOSNIA SENDS DIPLOMATIC NOTE OF PROTEST TO GENOCIDAL SERBIA

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 25,2008) - The Bosnian government has sent a diplomatic note of protest to the genocidal Serbia, related to the neighbour country’s decision to nationalize the property of former Yugoslav companies.

The Bosnian Foreign Afairs Minister Sven Alkalaj said that Bosnia wants the issue resolved within the SFRJ Secession Agreement.

A Serbian fascist government decree dated June 19 has practically halted the process of restitution of property to companies based in former Yugoslav republics – Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and opened the door to the nationalization of their property in the genocidal Serbia.

The secession agreement has been ratified by all the countries of former Yugoslavia.
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INFLATION RATE IN BOSNIA REACHES 9.6 PERCENT IN JUNE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 25,2008) - In the first six months of the year Bosnia’s exports amounted to 3.349 billion Bosnian Marks, which was by 17 per cent more compared to the same period of 2007. However, with the imports worth 7.977 billion Bosnian Marks (growth of 23.9 per cent), the country’ trade deficit increased to 4.628 billion Bosnian Marks, the Bosnian Statistics Agency announced yesterday. The export/import ratio in this period was 42 per cent.

According to the same source, it is too early yet to forecast how high the trade deficit would be by the end of this year, especially as effects of the SAA signing and the Interim Agreement on Trade and Trade-related Matters are still expected.

In June, the prices of products and services for personal consumption were up by 0.9 per cent in a month and the annual inflation rate was 9.6 per cent. Since the beginning of the year, the prices of food in Bosnia went up by average 7.75 per cent.
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COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO PARTNER SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL

STRASBOURG, France (July 25,2008) - For the first time ever, Europe's top rights watchdog the Council of Europe will next month partner the Sarajevo Film Festival and sponsor the "Heart of Sarajevo" award for the best feature film.

This year's festival takes place from 15-23 August. A key event the for southeastern European film industry, it is a "natural choice" of partner for the Council of Europe, the Council of Europe said.

The Council of Europe says it values film as a tool to educate people about rights and democracy and freedom of expression and creativity, and to promote cultural diversity and mutual respect.

"Directors from South-Eastern Europe whose films are selected for the Sarajevo Film Festival have been choosing themes that correspond largely to the Council of Europe's values, most dealing with social commentary and human rights," the watchdog said in a statement yesterday.

The Sarajevo Film Festival also offers a a wide range of films for youngsters through its special Children's Programme, which attracts over 35,000 young viewers from all over the region.

The programme "represents a unique forum to present the Council of Europe's activities in the field of the promotion of children's rights and the protection of children from violence," the Council of Europe stated

At this year's festival, the Council of Europe will present its most recent Europe-wide awareness-raising initiative against the corporal punishment of children, which aims to ban the practice in Europe.

Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe has 47 member states representing 800 million Europeans. It is the continent's first and largest inter-governmental organisation.

Aside from democracy and human rights, the Council of Europe seeks to promote political stability, economic growth and social cohesion in Europe.
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