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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 179, 00-09-15

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 179, 15 September 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS KARABAKH
  • [02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT FACTION REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR CABINET
  • [03] EXILED FORMER AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT SAYS HE'LL RETURN 'IN TRIUMPH'
  • [04] COMMITTEE TO DEFEND RIGHTS OF FORMER AZERBAIJANI COMMUNIST BOSS
  • [05] AZERBAIJANI COMMUNIST PARTY PARTICIPATION IN PARLIAMENTARY POLL RESTRICTED
  • [06] SENIOR U.S. MILITARY OFFICIAL VISITS GEORGIA
  • [07] GEORGIAN TEACHERS STRIKE
  • [08] POLICE DETAIN KAZAKH DISSIDENT
  • [09] KYRGYZ CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DEEMS LANGUAGE TEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES LEGAL
  • [10] KYRGYZ DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES REPORT OF NEW FIGHTING
  • [11] TAJIK PRESIDENT RULES OUT INCURSION BY 'TERRORISTS'
  • [12] UZBEK ARRESTED IN KAZAKHSTAN IN CONECTION WITH TASHKENT BOMBINGS

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [13] EU MAKES MAJOR TRADE CONCESSION TO SEVERAL BALKAN COUNTRIES
  • [14] ANNAN DISCUSSES YUGOSLAV SUCCESSION QUESTION
  • [15] FINAL LEGISLATIVE, GOVERNMENT SESSIONS IN SLOVENIA...
  • [16] ...AS ELECTION SEASON BEGINS
  • [17] CROATIAN OPPOSITION PLANS PROTESTS
  • [18] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT: UN SUMMIT MARKS START OF 'LEGITIMACY'
  • [19] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN PARTY: NO EARLY ELECTIONS
  • [20] CONTACT GROUP CALLS FOR 'DEMOCRATIC' YUGOSLAVIA
  • [21] PRO-MILOSEVIC CROWDS ATTACK SERBIAN OPPOSITION CANDIDATE
  • [22] 'DAY OF SILENCE' FOR KOSOVA ALBANIAN MEDIA
  • [23] ROMANIAN VETERAN RIGHTISTS TO QUIT PARLIAMENT...
  • [24] ...AS DOES VETERAN SOCIAL DEMOCRAT
  • [25] CZECH FIRM DIRECTOR DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN ROMANIAN ASSASSINATION
  • [26] MOLDOVA REJECTS RUSSIAN PLAN FOR TRANSDNIESTER

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [27] NEW RUSSIAN MEDIA DOCUMENT GIVES CAUSE FOR CONCERN

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT VISITS KARABAKH

    On a working visit to the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 13-14 September, Robert Kocharian met with enclave President Arkadii Ghukasian, Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielian, and National Assembly speaker Oleg Esayan, Noyan Tapan reported. Kocharian also reviewed construction and infrastructure projects in the enclave financed by Armenian diaspora foundations, including the north-south highway. LF

    [02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT FACTION REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR CABINET

    Karen Karapetian, secretary of the second-largest Kayunutiun parliamentary faction, told journalists in Yerevan on 14 September that at a recent meeting with Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, Kayunutiun members said the faction's two representatives in the present cabinet are prepared to continuing working in their current capacity, Noyan Tapan reported. Markarian, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the performance of Transport and Communications Minister Eduard Madatian and Nature Conservation Minister Murad Muradian. A member of Kayunutiun had told RFE/RL in late August that the faction hoped to gain additional cabinet posts. LF

    [03] EXILED FORMER AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT SAYS HE'LL RETURN 'IN TRIUMPH'

    Ayaz Mutalibov said in a 30-minute interview with Ekho Moskvy on 14 September that he does not doubt that some day he will return "in triumph" to Baku, provided that the current authorities enact legislation on the status of former presidents. Mutalibov has lived in exile in Moscow since the opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front thwarted his attempt to regain power in May 1992; the parliament had voted him out of office two months earlier. Mutalibov criticized what he termed the lack of democracy in Azerbaijan and the oppression of the media, as exemplified by the arrest of opposition "Yeni Musavat" editor Rauf Arifoglu. Meanwhile in Baku, more than a dozen Mutalibov supporters are continuing a hunger strike they began one week ago to demand that the present leadership create conditions that would enable Mutalibov to return to Azerbaijan, Turan reported. LF

    [04] COMMITTEE TO DEFEND RIGHTS OF FORMER AZERBAIJANI COMMUNIST BOSS

    A committee has recently been formed in Baku to protect the rights and lobby for the rehabilitation of Abdulrakhman Vezirov, Mutalibov's predecessor as first secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Turan reported on 14 September. Vezirov held that post from May 1988 until January 1990, when he was dismissed in the wake of the Soviet army reprisals against the civilian population of Baku. He is believed to be working at the Russian Trade representation in Prague. LF

    [05] AZERBAIJANI COMMUNIST PARTY PARTICIPATION IN PARLIAMENTARY POLL RESTRICTED

    The Azerbaijani Communist Party has been barred from contesting the 25 mandates to be allocated under the proportional system in the 5 November parliamentary ballot, Turan reported. Central Electoral Commission chairman Mazahir Panahov said that 17 of the 30 candidates on the party's list failed to provide the required income and property declaration and that the list had not been signed by the party's executive. LF

    [06] SENIOR U.S. MILITARY OFFICIAL VISITS GEORGIA

    On a one-day visit to Tbilisi on 14 September, General Henry Shelton, who is chairman of the joint U.S. Chiefs of General Staff, met with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Defense Minister David Tevzadze, and parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania, AP and Caucasus Press reported. Shelton expressed approval of the ongoing reform and downsizing of the Georgian armed forces. He also said that the U.S. government has proposed military aid in 2001 worth $12 million, including 10 helicopters and financial assistance for retired army personnel. Congress, however, has not yet approved that sum. LF

    [07] GEORGIAN TEACHERS STRIKE

    Pedagogues in 60 schools in Georgia's Mtskheta-Mtianeti region have refused to resume teaching when the academic year begins on 18 September to protest the non-payment of their salaries over the past 10 months, Caucasus Press reported on 14 September. Also on 14 September, Caucasus Press reported that retired policemen will be given 5 kilograms of macaroni by the Union of Police Pensioners and Invalids to compensate for not having received their pensions for the past 10 months. LF

    [08] POLICE DETAIN KAZAKH DISSIDENT

    Without explanation, police in Almaty escorted Karishal Assanov from his apartment on 14 September but released him three hours later, RFE/RL's bureau the former capital reported. Assanov informed RFE/RL that he has been summoned for questioning on 20 September in connection with his journalistic activities. Assanov recently published an article criticizing Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev. LF

    [09] KYRGYZ CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DEEMS LANGUAGE TEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES LEGAL

    The Kyrgyz Constitutional Court on 13 September ruled that the mandatory language examination for prospective presidential candidates is legal, thereby rejecting an appeal by Iskhak Masaliev and Dooronbek Sadyrbaev, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Masaliev failed the test, while Sadyrbaev passed but earlier this week announced his intention to withdraw his candidacy (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 September 2000). Seven candidates have passed the language test and another seven have failed. Opposition Ar-Namys Party chairman Feliks Kulov will sit the examination on 18 September. The deadline for registration of candidates is 23 September. LF

    [10] KYRGYZ DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES REPORT OF NEW FIGHTING

    Government troops in Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken oblast told RFE/RL on 14 September that Kyrgyz troops engaged Islamist guerrillas earlier that day near the village of Syrt, which is 35 kilometers from the Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The government troops reportedly sustained no casualties. But spokesmen for the Defense Ministry denied any knowledge of that clash, saying that over the previous 24 hours only one minor exchange of fire had been reported. That incident was said to have taken place at the Jyluu-Suu border post. LF

    [11] TAJIK PRESIDENT RULES OUT INCURSION BY 'TERRORISTS'

    Speaking in the city of Tajikabad on 13 September, Imomali Rakhmonov said the Tajik armed forces will forestall any attempt by "international terrorists" in Afghanistan to infiltrate Tajikistan and use the country as a "bridgehead," AP and ITAR-TASS reported. He added that instability in Tajikistan would pose a threat to the security of the whole of Central Asia. Meanwhile "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 15 September published what it says are the details of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov's proposed Afghan peace plan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 and 4 September 2000). That plan entails a cease-fire that will last between 24 and 48 months, special administrative powers for Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud on the territory that he traditionally controls, cooperation between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban in governing the country, and the deployment of an observer mission on Massoud's "autonomous" territorry. LF

    [12] UZBEK ARRESTED IN KAZAKHSTAN IN CONECTION WITH TASHKENT BOMBINGS

    An unnamed Uzbek citizen has been detained at a border crossing between southern Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on suspicion of involvement in the terrorist bombings in the Uzbek capital in February 1999, Interfax reported on 14 September. The man's name was not disclosed. Kazakh customs officials reportedly recognized him from photographs of the suspects circulated by Uzbek police. LF

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [13] EU MAKES MAJOR TRADE CONCESSION TO SEVERAL BALKAN COUNTRIES

    The EU has announced it will "soon" establish a large free- trade zone for industrial and agricultural products from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Macedonia, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 14 September. Montenegrin aluminum will also be admitted duty free. Brussels will extend similar trade concessions to Serbia once it has a democratic government. The EU's decision meets a long- standing demand from the countries of the western Balkans for improved trade relations. PM

    [14] ANNAN DISCUSSES YUGOSLAV SUCCESSION QUESTION

    At the UN on 14 September, the foreign ministers of Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that all former Yugoslav republics must be treated equally in determining their rights as successors. They slammed the Belgrade regime's claim that it is the sole legal successor to the former state and therefore entitled to its assets and seats in world bodies, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The ministers stressed that Belgrade must apply for a UN seat as a successor state and not automatically receive the former Yugoslavia's chair. PM

    [15] FINAL LEGISLATIVE, GOVERNMENT SESSIONS IN SLOVENIA...

    The parliament passed two laws on 14 September aimed at bringing the country's legal system in line with that of the EU, "Dnevnik" reported. The government agreed on a 11.7 percent raise for health workers in 2000, which will be paid in lump sum next year, Ljubljana's Radio 24 UR reported. The cabinet also decided on financial help for the economically important Gorenje electrical goods company, whose main plant was recently damaged by fire. It is unclear, however, which government agency will pay how much money and to whom. PM

    [16] ...AS ELECTION SEASON BEGINS

    The closing of the legislative session marks the start of the parliamentary election campaign for the 15 October ballot, "Dnevnik" reported. Candidates will seek to use "arguments and charm" on Slovenian Television every weekday evening to win votes, the Ljubljana daily added. Some private television stations and radio broadcasters plan daily election coverage of their own, as well as Internet services. Prime Minister Andrej Bajuk, who leads one of three Christian Democratic parties, paid a "state visit" to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican on the eve of the start of the campaign. PM

    [17] CROATIAN OPPOSITION PLANS PROTESTS

    Several war veterans' and invalids' organizations in various cities and towns will soon stage protests against the recent arrest of war crimes suspects, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 14 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September 2000). The opposition-controlled government of Split-Dalmatia County also condemned the arrests as politically motivated. Prime Minister Ivica Racan said in Zagreb that he will not be intimidated by "groups of extremist individuals" who are working against "national interests." Elsewhere, a police spokesman said that General Ivan Andabak, who was among those arrested, was not charged with war crimes but with involvement in a major drug-smuggling ring. PM

    [18] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT: UN SUMMIT MARKS START OF 'LEGITIMACY'

    President Milo Djukanovic said in Podgorica on 14 September that his country's "participation" in the recent UN summit marks the beginning of Montenegro's "legitimacy in the UN system" of organizations. Djukanovic added that the international community's admission of Montenegro to unspecified meetings at the summit showed that members of the world body understand Montenegro's difficulties within the Yugoslav federation, Montena-fax reported. He argued that many UN members "appreciate Montenegro's efforts aimed at democratization, economic development, and international integration as a state [in its own right]." Meanwhile in Ljubljana, the Ministry for Economic Relations and Development said in a statement that Slovenia will henceforth exempt Montenegro from sanctions against federal Yugoslavia, "Danas" reported. PM

    [19] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN PARTY: NO EARLY ELECTIONS

    Arben Xhaferi, head of the Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSH), which is part of the governing coalition, said on 13 September that his party is opposed to dissolving the parliament and holding early elections, (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 15 September 2000). The opposition has demanded that such elections be held. Xhaferi added that the ethnic Albanians will boycott an early vote, MIC news agency reported from Skopje. He blamed communist-era police officials for several violent incidents in the recent local elections. Elsewhere, a spokesman for the opposition ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity said that his party will boycott the upcoming second round of the local elections. The PDSH won the majority of ethnic Albanian votes in the first round. PM

    [20] CONTACT GROUP CALLS FOR 'DEMOCRATIC' YUGOSLAVIA

    Diplomats from the six-member international Contact Group for the former Yugoslavia issued a statement in New York on 14 September saying they "look forward to a democratic Yugoslavia, so that it can be reintegrated in the international community and play its rightful part in contributing to the stability of the entire region," AP reported. The news agency added that Russian diplomats only reluctantly agreed to including the word "democratic." ITAR- TASS reported that the text also calls for an end to violence against Serbs in Kosova and for strict implementation of Security Council Resolution 1244, as Russian diplomats wanted. PM

    [21] PRO-MILOSEVIC CROWDS ATTACK SERBIAN OPPOSITION CANDIDATE

    Several dozen supporters of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic pelted opposition presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica with stones, tomatoes, and eggs in Mitrovica on 14 September (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 September 2000). The demonstrators also damaged several cars. Some eight people were treated for injuries. Kostunica was hit beneath the eye with a stone. He said in a statement that the attack shows Milosevic is weak. Kostunica added: "Lacking the courage to face either me or the people, Milosevic is exploiting those few desperate souls who are ready to take a fistful of freshly-printed money in order to tarnish the reputation of the people of Mitrovica and the remaining Kosovo Serbs," Reuters reported. The mob also attacked an RFE/RL correspondent, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Milosevic has frequently made use of street mobs over the years to intimidate his opponents. PM

    [22] 'DAY OF SILENCE' FOR KOSOVA ALBANIAN MEDIA

    Kosova's seven Albanian-language dailies did not appear on 15 September to protest the recent violence against journalists, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline, 12 and 13 September 2000). Radio stations played music instead of carrying news programs. Meanwhile in central Prishtina, a spokesman for UN police said that unknown gunmen the previous day killed an elderly Albanian, who worked for the police before Milosevic purged ethnic Albanians from government service in 1989, AP reported. PM

    [23] ROMANIAN VETERAN RIGHTISTS TO QUIT PARLIAMENT...

    Ten veteran members of the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) announced on 14 September they will not seek re-election to the parliament at the end of this year, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The veterans, many of whom are in their 80s, said they are "not withdrawing from politics" but intend to "allow the PNTCD" to forge an intellectual elite from among the ranks of the younger generation. Such an elite, according to the veterans, would promote Christian Democratic values, respect the party's past, and refuse to accept compromise disguised "under the mask of pragmatism" (a clear allusion to the National Liberal Party). Among the 10 veterans are former PNTCD First Deputy Chairman Gabriel Tepelea and PNTCD Deputy Chairman Nicolae Ionescu-Galbeni. MS

    [24] ...AS DOES VETERAN SOCIAL DEMOCRAT

    Social Democratic Party (PSDR) Honorary Chairman Sergiu Cunescu also announced on 14 September that he will not seek re-election to the legislature. Cunescu harshly criticized the agreement between the PSDR and the main opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania to run on joint lists and merge after the elections. He said the PSDR has "self-enslaved itself" to a formation that "has been born out of a conspiracy in the darkness of the Romanian Communist Party" and that ruled Romania after 1990 by "confiscating the revolution" and by carrying out a "Stalinist process of political assassination." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu has accepted the resignation of PSDR Labor and Social Affairs Minister Smaranda Dobrescu and appointed Lucian Albu, who is politically independent, to replace her. MS

    [25] CZECH FIRM DIRECTOR DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN ROMANIAN ASSASSINATION

    Zdenek Zemek, chairman of the board of the Czech Zelezarny Veseli administrative council, refused on 14 September to travel to Bucharest for negotiations with the State Property Fund on reaching an "amicable solution" on revoking the privatization of the Iasi-based Tepro pipe mill. Zemek said his "personal security" is in danger owing to "allegations" in the media that he has been personally implicated in the murder of Tepro trade union leader Virgil Sahleanu. Zemek denies any "direct or indirect involvement" in the murder and says Sahleanu's assassination has "prejudiced the interests" of his company and generated "a wave of hostile emotions" against his country, Mediafax reported. MS

    [26] MOLDOVA REJECTS RUSSIAN PLAN FOR TRANSDNIESTER

    Deputy Foreign Minister Eugen Kapova said on 14 September that his country cannot accept the plan drawn up by Yevgenii Primakov, head of the Russian state commission for the peaceful solution of the Transdniester conflict. Kapova said Moldova cannot agree to a plan that "provides for Moldova's federalization," Romanian Radio reported on 15 September. He said that Primakov's plan contravenes "the norms of international law" and all documents agreed on during earlier negotiations, including the 1997 Moscow memorandum. MS

    [C] END NOTE

    [27] NEW RUSSIAN MEDIA DOCUMENT GIVES CAUSE FOR CONCERN

    By Sophie Lambroschini

    Russian President Vladimir Putin recently approved a new policy doctrine on information security.

    The doctrine, drafted by the Security Council, is not a law and has no legal force. Nevertheless, its vague and overly long wording has triggered concern that it may be used by the authorities to exercise stricter control over the media.

    Sergei Ivanenko, the head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma and a member of the lower house's information committee, told RFE/RL that as it stands, the document is an "empty shell." But he says the sheer length of the document-- some 9,000 words--probably masks various bad intentions. He says if the doctrine's authors really wanted to promote press freedom, the document would fit on one page.

    On the one hand, the doctrine does pledge to protect the rights of citizens to receive, transmit, and share information. And it promises more efforts to update technology to protect military and commercial secrets. But on the other, its sheer wordiness leaves the reader with the distinct impression that the authorities consider information to be a dangerous weapon.

    The doctrine states plainly that Russia's information security is threatened by the "dissemination of misinformation" about state policy and the aim of "certain countries" to infringe on Russian interests and dominate in the global sphere of information.

    Yevgenii Volk, a researcher with the Heritage Foundation who writes frequently on Russian political and security issues, told RFE/RL that the doctrine reflects what he calls the authorities' "obsession with control." "[The doctrine] is in keeping in a completely logical way with what is happening with the government's policy to establish control over all key spheres of [political] life--be it political parties, parliament, the regions--and of course, to a certain extent, over information in its largest sense," he comments.

    Volk says the doctrine should be read in light of past official statements. After the "Kursk" nuclear submarine disaster, for example, Putin chided the media, which had been critical of the government's handling of the crisis, saying newspapers and television had spread lies and were undermining the army.

    According to Volk, another source of concern is the vagueness of a formulation that leaves "any bureaucrat free to interpret" the intentions of the president. He says the general tone of the document reflects what he calls the "Soviet" education of its authors.

    Andrei Richter, head of the Center for Media Policy, a Russian non- governmental fund, agrees that the document lends itself to criticism. But he says there is no reason to panic since the doctrine has no legal force whatsoever.

    Many fear, however, that the document is only a first step in a legal assault on the free press that could begin soon with changes to the country's relatively liberal media law. The law was first adopted in 1991 and then modified in 1995. For months, there have been rumors that the government intends to use its relatively strong position in the State Duma to push through certain amendments.

    A member of the Duma information committee told RFE/RL that the lower house is constantly bombarded with proposals for amendments to the law on the media. Vadim Bulavinov says there have been more than 500 proposals to amend the law, although he says most will not be adopted.

    Those amendments most likely to be passed, he says, would not infringe on basic press freedoms but would introduce some important changes. "[The amendments] don't violate the rights of journalists in any way. They speak about a more objective attitude and more responsibility for the information they publish," Bulavinov notes.

    Other bills in preparation include one that would establish a higher council for morality in television and radio broadcasting. That bill would punish a radio or television station if journalists took advantage of an interviewee's emotional state to make him say things that may get him into trouble. And it would also force media outlets to give equal space to different points of view.

    The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Moscow.

    15-09-00


    Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


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