The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 2 February to 8 February 2023.
Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia . Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
Serbia – 8 February 2023
The Humanitarian Law Centre said that ‘too light’ sentences handed down to four wartime Serb fighters convicted of abducting passengers from a train in Strpci in Bosnia in 1993 belittled the suffering of the victims’ families. The full article can be found here.
Moldova – 8 February 2023
Moldova ‘Separatism Law’ Sparks Tensions with Breakaway Transnistria. The regime is accused of systematically violating human rights in the small pro-Russian enclave and of suppressing any form of free expression. The full article can be found here.
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 8 February 2023
Wartime Bosnian Serb Army soldier Rade Grujic was arrested at the border with Serbia on suspicion of raping a Bosniak woman in a detention facility in Liplje near Zvornik during the war. The full article can be found here.
Serbia – 7 February 2023
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Serbia violated the rights of a lawyer for preventing him from using the Ijekavian dialect of the Serbian language in a court case he was leading. The full article can be found here.
Croatia – 7 February 2023
Four Croatian couples were arrested for a second time at an airport in Zambia on suspicion of child trafficking after coming to adopt four children from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. The full article can be found here.
Serbia – 7 February 2023
Four wartime Serb fighters were sentenced to a total of 35 years in prison at Belgrade Higher Court for participating in the abduction of 20 non-Serb passengers from a train in Strpci station in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993. The full article can be found here.
Croatia – 6 February 2023
Six months after investigative journalist Vladimir Matijanic died amid suspicions, he did not receive proper medical help, his colleagues are demanding an independent probe and the resignation of the Health Minister. The full article can be found here.
Kosovo – 2 February 2023
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers rejected former war veterans’ organisation leaders Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj’s appeals against their convictions for obstructing justice and intimidating witnesses but reduced their sentences by three months. The full article can be found here.
Albania – 2 February 2023
Albania’s opposition Democratic Party has filed a request for a parliament’s investigative committee, after Prime Minister Edi Rama dismissed claims that his government bribed a former FBI official. The full article can be found here.