Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service

    Odraz B92 vesti (by 4 PM), January 19, 1997

    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1997 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 4 PM
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    KINKEL: OPPOSITION IN SERBIA DESERVE OUR FULL SUPPORT

    German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel met opposition leader Zoran
    Djindjic in Bonn Sunday. Mr. Kinkel told press after that meeting
    that the opposition in Serbia deserved the full support for its
    peaceful struggle for democratization.

    Mr. Kinkel also stressed that the Serbian Government should
    recognize local election results immediately, open dialogue with
    the opposition and, above all, respect free media.

    Mr. Kinkel also warned that failure to do this would provoke
    pressure from the international community, but did not specify
    what this would involve. But he was reuluctant to consider the
    option of re-imposing sanctions.

    Zoran Djindjic stressed that democratization in Serbia was the
    only way out of the current crisis and for full implementation of
    the Dayton accords.

    Mr. Djindjic expressed his appreciation of Western support and
    concluded that the opposition in Serbia was beginning to be taken
    more seriously by the international community, thus breaking
    Milosevic's monopoly on the representation of Serbia.

    ``My visit to Bonn is a sign in itself that German foreign policy
    experts look on our coalition as a future partner in the Balkans''
    Djindjic concluded.


    RHEN REJECTS ALLEGATIONS THAT MILUTINOVIC ACCUSED STUDENTS

    UN Special Envoy for Human Hights for former Yugoslavia, Elizabeth
    Rhen, met with students from the University of Belgrade,
    opposition leaders and representatives of the Serbian Government
    on Saturday.

    In a later meeting with press, Mrs. Rehn stressed that the
    conclusions of the Gonzalez report must be implemented, regardless
    of any legal difficulties that might arise.

    She said she had made this very clear to Yugoslav Foreign Minister
    Milan Milutinovic, who had reassured her that the current dispute
    would be reolved and the electoral system updated.

    Mrs. Rhen rejected allegations that Minister Milutionovic had
    accused the students of the UofB of being funded from abroad. She
    reiterated her support for the Student Protest, describing it as
    good work and a beautiful thing.

    Mrs. Rhen stated that, during her visit to Kosovo, she had focused
    police abuse and voilence against civilians and was horrified at
    the case of one Albanian teacher whos was beatebn to death while
    in police custody.

    In her meatings with the Yugoslav and Serbian Ministers of Justice
    and Serbian Minister of Interior Zoran Sokolovic, Mrs. Rhen
    insisted on immediate and free legal assistance for detaineess.
    Such access she stressed was currently denied under existing
    Yugoslav law.

    Mrs. Rhen also announced her intention to establish and Ombudsman
    for Human Rights in Serbia.

    Mrs. Rhen was also pleased that she had been promised by Serbian
    Commissioner for Refugees, Bratislava Morina, that no refugees
    would be repatriated from FR Yugoslavia against their will.


    DIMITRIJEVIC -- FIRST ZAJEDNO REPRESENTATIVE IN PRAGUE

    Vojin Dimitrijevic, chairman of the Foreign Policy Board of the
    Civil Alliance of Serbia (GSS) is currently on a four-day visit to
    Prague.

    He is the first representative of coalition Zajedno to visit the
    Czech Republic. He is to meet with Aleksandar Vondro, First
    Assistant of the Czech Foreign Minister, Senator Vatzlav Bend,
    also chair of the Bureau for Investigation of Communist Crimes,
    Ivan Medek, chair of the Czech President's cabinet, Mihael
    Chantovsky, chair of the Czech Senate's foreign policy board and
    representatives of other state and political bodies.


    HUNGRY STUDENT MOVEMENT ORGANIZES ACTION OF ``I'LL FEED YOU TOO''

    The Steering Board of the Student Protest 96--97 has established a
    Hungry Student Movement branch. The Hungry Student Movement called
    on all Belgraders Sunday to bring food to help sustain the
    students participating in the action to break police cordons that
    night. Under the slogan ``I'll Feed You Too,'' the Hungry Student
    Movement asked for food to be brought for policemen as well lest
    they should 'eat' the demonstrators.


    DNEVNI TELEGRAF: FORMER CHANCELLOR OF UOFB ON CURRENT SITUATION IN
    SERBIA

    Rajko Vracar, former Chancellor of the UofB, who was demoted for
    supporting Student Protest 1992 and criticizing the current
    government, in spite of being a member of the ruling party at the
    time, said in an interview to the daily 'Dnevni Telegraf' that the
    University of Belgrade was too important for the Government to let
    it become independent.

    He said that it had come of little surprise that the University
    Council had rejected the request to dismiss the current Chancellor
    as he had been appointed by the ruling Socialists in the first
    place.

    Mr. Vracar criticised the actions and professionalism of the
    current Chancellor and gave his unconditional support to Student
    Protest 96--97. He said the only progressive elements in the
    University were the students.


    JANUARY 6 IN MIRA MARKOVIC'S DIARY PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY DUGA

    ``Tonight a bomb exploded in the Yugoslav United Left HQ. The
    police came to investigate. Nevertheless, I am pretty sure that
    the Yugoslav public will never find out who dropped it... and I
    doubt that anybody will answer for it.

    All that despite the fact that the bomb logically came from where
    it had been announced. Bombs, as a means of political struggle,
    were announced recently in front of the whole of Yugoslavia and
    the world, in front of local and foreign television cameramen, in
    the sight of hundreds of journalists, by the management of the
    Serbian Renewal Movement. Bombs were promised to the left [party]
    and now they have followed through on that promise.''


    LE PEN TO VISIT SRS TUESDAY

    Jean Marie Le Pen, leader of the French National Front (FNF) will
    arrive on an official visit to the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) on
    Tuesday, the SRS announced at a press conference Sunday.

    The schedule of Le Pen's visit includes a meeting with Serbian
    Patriarch Pavle, a tour of the Federal and Republic Parliament,
    visit to the Zemun City Assembly [whose Mayor is the leader of the
    SRS, Vojislav Seselj], and a trip to Pale to meet with Momcilo
    Krajisnik, representative of the Republic of Srpska on the Bosnian
    Presidency.

    Le Pen is also to address a mass meeting of Serbian-French
    friendship staged by the SRS in Zemun Wednesday. On Thursday, the
    FNF and the SRS are to sign an agreement establishing a political
    alliance between the two parties.

    Jacques Daure, a member of the FNF management stated that the two
    parties share a similar position -- neither left nor right. He
    complained that the FNF, merely a party of French nationalists,
    has unjustly been classed as fascist. He specified that the aim of
    the visit was not to interfere in Serbian internal affairs, which,
    he said, must be sorted out by Serbs themselves.

    Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
    Edited by: Mary Anne Wood

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    E-mail: odrazb92@b92.opennet.org, beograd@siicom.com
    WWW:    http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://www.opennet.org/b92/
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