Protests in Serbia Archive
Odraz B92 Daily News Service

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    ODRAZ B92, Belgrade                             Daily News Service
    Odraz B92 vesti (by 3 PM), December 10, 1996

    e-mail: beograd@siicom.com      URL: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/
            odrazb92@b92.opennet.org     http://www.siicom.com/b92/
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    All texts are Copyright 1996 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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    NEWS BY 3 PM
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    DAVIS ACCUSES MILOSEVIC

    American government expressed serious concern over ``continuing
    attempts of the ruling Serbian party to oppose the will of Serbian
    people expressed on Nov. 17 local elections by controlling the
    judiciary,'' reported Slobodan Pavlovic, correspondent of 'Nasa
    Borba' to FoNet news agency today.

    Glyn Davis, representative of Clinton's administration, speaking
    at a press conference today accused Slobodan Milosevic of exerting
    pressure on the judiciary and using political influence whose
    decisive impact is obvious from yesterday's decision of the
    Supreme Court to reject electoral complaints of Zajedno.

    Glyn Davis asked Milosevic to stop influencing the judiciary, and
    to stop using repression against the demonstrators. Davis added
    that any further anti-democratic practices would lead Yugoslavia
    to deeper international isolation. Richard Miles, Head of the
    American Mission in Belgrade, expressed his dissatisfaction on the
    same issues today and asked the Yugoslav Minister of Foreign
    Affairs Milan Milutinovic to make public complete information on
    the imprisoned Dejan Bulatovic and other demonstrators who were
    abused by the police in the last several days and sentenced to
    prison for participating in the peaceful protests on the streets
    of Belgrade.


    KORNBLUM IS NOT COMING TO BELGRADE

    The USA canceled a meeting of the Assistant State Secretary John
    Kornblum with President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic. Kornblum's
    previously scheduled visit was canceled in an attempt to step up
    the pressure on the authorities there who are refusing to
    acknowledge the results of local elections in Serbia, reported
    Reuters today.

    Kornblum was supposed to meet Milosevic in Belgrade late this
    week, following the meeting of NATO' foreign ministers, but
    decided to cancel the meeting.


    NATO'S APPEAL TO MILOSEVIC

    NATO strongly condemned the decision by the Serbian authorities to
    annul the results of local elections held on Nov. 17 and asked the
    Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to reverse this decision,
    reported Reuters today.

    ``We are discouraged by the fact that the Serbian authorities have
    neglected calls from the international community to obey
    internationally accepted democratic principles,'' said the
    statement issued by 16 members of NATO, made public following the
    opening round of a two-day meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign
    Affairs.


    STUDENTS' PROTEST

    Several thousands of students of the UofB continued their protest
    in Belgrade today. Andrej Frimerman, Dean of the University Braca
    Karic, is the first Dean to address the students since these
    protests began three weeks ago, saying that he himself and his
    students support all the demands made to date at the protests.

    Frimerman's speech was followed by Vojin Dimitrijevic's (law
    professor), who reminded the students that, the Declaration on
    Human Rights was signed exactly on this day almost half a century
    ago, in 1948. Dimitrijevic also sent a message to the students in
    the School of Law saying that to raise the standards of the legal
    profession, he will ``mercilessly fail them on their exams''
    following what he saw their colleagues, ``know-nothings'' do in
    the courts these days.

    The traditional walk down the streets of Belgrade then lead the
    students to the building of the Supreme Court of Serbia.


    THEATERS ON STRIKE, EXCEPT FOR KPGT

    As previously announced by the Association of Dramatic Artists of
    Serbia, all the theaters in Belgrade will not stage performances
    today. The only exception to this is KPGT Theater, headed by
    Ljubisa Ristic, President of JUL (Yugoslav United Left).


    DRASKOVIC: ``WE WATCHED THE RTS EVENING NEWS TOGETHER''

    ``The same night when RTS made public in their prime time evening
    news on Dec. 8 that Zoran Djindjic and Vuk Draskovic were having a
    conflict between them, leaders of Zajedno were making friends in
    the Headquarters of the Serbian Renewal Movement all night,'' said
    Vuk Draskovic to ``Dnevni Telegraf'' (a Belgrade daily) today.

    ``Everything is in perfect order. We're a democratic coalition,
    and we have many dialogues and discussions. We spend every day
    together and we're trying to figure how to reach our goals as soon
    as possible. Djindjic and I do not have any reason to fight,''
    said Draskovic.

    Leader of the Serbian Democratic Party told the same daily: ``We
    are together. We realized that this is not the time for personal
    ambitions. Faced by all the people who come to demonstrate day
    after day, we cannot allow ourselves to pursue any narrowly
    personal agenda. The demonstrators have united us more than we
    ever thought they could.''

    Leaders of Zajedno announced the continuation of protests, whose
    ultimate goal is, in Zajedno's official statement, the
    democratization of Serbia.


    MITEVIC -- NEW DIRECTOR OF BK TV?

    Referring to reliable sources within BK Television, 'Nasa Borba'
    reported today that Aleksandar Tijanic's resignation to the
    position of the director of BK TV has been accepted and that a new
    name is being mentioned to replace him in this position -- that of
    Dusan Mitevic.

    ``In the transitional period, this function would be carried out
    by Vera Radojicic, Tijanic's deputy to-date,'' said 'Nasa Borba'.
    The same source said that ever since the demonstrations in
    Belgrade began, all the decisions regarding the BK TV's news
    programming have been made personally by Bogoljub Karic.
    Allegedly, Karic is kept regularly informed on the contents of the
    news programs, a practice that went on even during his recent
    visit to India.

    Intervening all the way from India, ``Karic personally issued an
    order to stop reporting on the activities of the opposition
    following the show in which Dragoljub Micunovic took part,'' said
    this source to 'Nasa Borba'.

    Prepared by: Aleksandra Scepanovic
    Edited by: Vaska Andjelkovic (Tumir)

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