DISMISSED BOSNIAN SERB SPEAKER PROMISES TO
RETURN
SRNA - June 30, 2004
Banja Luka, 30 June: Dragan Kalinic told the (Bosnian) Serb Republic People's
Assembly that High Representative Paddy Ashdown dismissed him from the post of
speaker and barred him from all political and public jobs because he "did not
agree to the SDS (Serb Democratic Party) committing a suicide and because this
party did not make possible the arrest of Radovan Karadzic".
In his address to the deputies, Kalinic said that only one party was asked to
arrest war crimes suspects, which was unprecedented in the politician and legal
practice.
"Many are powerless in the face of the fact that Radovan Karadzic is probably
guarded by God and angels, which seems to be true," Kalinic stressed.
He added that regarding this he did what he could from the legal point of view
and by declaring the political will of the Serb Republic to meet its
international obligations.
Kalinic said that he was dismissed because of "the controversial financial
report by an international auditor, which was prepared along the lines of the
scenario which began with the Orao (Bosnian Serb Air Force institute) scandal,
then the Power Industry and Serb Telecom, which apart from the hypothesis that
the SDS was financing war crimes indictees, does not contain any proof or
arguments".
He said that the SDS would respond to this report as soon as tomorrow.
Kalinic added that he was dismissed from the post of chairman of the party,
which was accused "of not severing links with its dark past", although he had
since 1998 done everything for the SDS to be accepted as a moderate and
conservative party capable of reforms.
"I did not want to accept that the SDS should commit a suicide and disappear
from the political scene in this country for ever. Whoever tries to do this will
have to face the fact that the people created the SDS, that it is protected by
the people and that it is indestructible," Kalinic stressed.
He assessed today's dismissal as the most brutal cleansing of the political
scene in the Serb Republic.
Kalinic announced that the dismissal decision by the high representative would
end up in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, but only after all
legal means, "which due to the semi-colonial system of government here are quite
limited and condemned to fail", were exhausted in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
"I am leaving now and not for the first time, and, if God is willing, I shall be
back, because I have used five out of nine political lives I have," Kalinic
said.
He told the people that this was not "the end of the world".
"This nation will survive, it will live and this will again be our country. It
is worth living for that moment and until then, we should hold our heads high,"
Kalinic said.
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1103 gmt 30 Jun 04
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