Serbia: Soros Delegation Meets Patriarch

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle received a delegation of the Soros Fund Yugoslavia on July 4. The delegation included Sonja Liht, Jelena Vlajkovic and Slobodan Nakarada. The meeting was also attended by Valjevo and Sabac Bishop Lavrentije whose initiative and mediation resulted in the meeting.

The Soros Fund organized or helped the realization of several projects in the Sabac and Valjevo areas. The idea for the meeting came from Orthodox Church officials after the Fund assisted the making of a film of previously unknown religious and Christmas songs by 19th century Serbian poet Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj last year.

Liht told VREME that the Patriarch was informed of the financial, material and humanitarian aid the Fund provided under the auspices of the Third Summer Spiritual Academy in Serbia last summer, as well as other aid. The Church and Fund have cooperated in building a home for war orphans and organizing creative workshops for children without parental guidance.

The Patriarch was also informed of the difficulties the Fund faces.

The Patriarch voiced full support for the Fund's humanitarian efforts, especially aid to children.

Serbia: The General Retried

The supreme military tribunal in Belgrade ruled last week that the officers of the Varazdin corps, headed by General Vlada Trifunovic, did commit the crime of undermining the country's defence capabilities. The tribunal ruled that the undermining was not as deep reaching as the initial court martial said and commuted the general's sentence from 11 to seven years in prison. Trifunovic's officers also got reduced sentences: Colonel Sreten Raduski got four instead of seven years; Colonel Berislav Popovic got 3.5 instead of six years; Colonel Vladimir Davidovic's sentence of 18 months was confirmed while Colonel Milos Lukic (one year) will stand trial again.

Those officers were transferred from the army jail in Belgrade to prisons across Serbia as soon as the new ruling was issued. They have one more possibility: a demand for the federal court to rule on the latest military court ruling.

Lawyer Branko Stanic, Trifunovic's defence counsel, said the new ruling was just a cosmetic change intended to show that the tribunal acted independently. "It was clear to me which way the court martial was heading as soon as judge Djordje Dozet passed the second sentence freeing the officers with the best of intentions and based on what he learned from witnesses during the trial and asked the army prosecutor to raise charges against members of the former Yugoslav state presidency and JNA supreme command for what the did or didn't do in Croatia and Slovenia. It was clear then that the second sentence would also be overruled. Soon, the tribunal held a meeting with judges and prosecutors who were told from the Army top that "a bomb was intended for the traitor Trifunovic". It was clear that the trial of the Varazdin corps officers would be repeated until a judge condemned them," Stanic said.

Bosnia: Bihac Facing Hunger

The isolated Bosnian enclave of Bihac is being threatened by hunger, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, said in an interview during a visit to Philadelphia where she was given a Liberty medal on July 4 for contributing to principles of liberty.

An old man and a three year old boy died of hunger in the mainly Muslim town of Bihac (200,000 population). "We couldn't get to Bihac," Ogata said. "We managed to bring in some seed. If we can't get to the town in much greater measure, hunger is something that could happen".

Montenegro: Valdanos Bay - Military Base

Montenegro's parliament is set to debate a decision to give the Valdanos bay near Ulcinj to the Yugoslav Army for a naval base, Montena Fax reported. The debate was called by the Montenegro Liberal Alliance (LSCG) and National Party (NS).

Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic informed the public of the decision on July 9, at a navy day ceremony in Kotor. He said the "decision was taken by the republic" but we still don't know whose decision it really is. Bulatovic did not respond to two LSCG demands to see the decision on paper.

Radovan Bakic, republican infrastructure minister, told reporters that his ministry gave its approval but did not specify whose decision it approved.

The LSCG and Social Democrat party feel that the construction of a naval base in Valdanos contributes to the further militarization of Montenegro, while the NS has nothing against the base but is interested in the legal basis for the decision.

The SDP leadership said it would raise the issue of the constitutional legitimacy of the decision and explained that the area was planned to become a zone for elite tourism.