22.3.2007 by admin.

22.3.2007
Sarajevo: Zwei mutmaßliche Kriegsverbrecher festgenommen
Bosnische Muslime sollen am Verschwinden von 26 kroatischen Zivilisten und Kriegsgefangenen beteiligt sein
Sarajevo - Die bosnische Polizei hat am Donnerstag zwei Muslime festgenommen, denen Kriegsverbrechen gegen Kroaten vorgeworfen werden. Die beiden Männer seien auf Grund eines Haftbefehls der Generalstaatsanwaltschaft in der zentralbosnischen Stadt Bugojno verhaftet worden, hieß es in Justizkreisen.

Die beiden Bosnier werden beschuldigt, während des Krieges in Bosnien am Verschwinden von 26 kroatischen Zivilisten und Kriegsgefangenen aus einem Gefangenenlager in Bugojno im Jahr 1993 beteiligt gewesen zu sein. Bei den Verhafteten handelt es sich den Angaben zufolge um den Befehlshaber des Lagers und seinen Stellvertreter. Die Justiz gehe davon aus, dass die Verschwundenen ermordet wurden, ihre Leichen seien jedoch nie gefunden worden.

Kroaten und bosnische Muslime hatten in dem von 1992 bis 1995 dauernden Krieg gemeinsam gegen serbische Bosnier gekämpft, richteten die Waffen aber auch in den Jahren 1993 und 1994 elf Monate lang gegeneinander. 2,2 Millionen Menschen, mehr als die Hälfte der Bevölkerung, flohen vor den Kämpfen oder wurden vertrieben. (APA)

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22.3.2007 by admin.

Americas drug money goes to cleaners

A progress report on counter-narcotics and money laundering strategy is set out every year in the US Department of State’s International Drug Control Strategy Report, the latest of which was published in March. The report is light on figures, but the few estimates it has are impressive from the drug traffickers’ point of view: since 2003, for example, approximately USD22 billion has been repatriated to Mexico from the US by drug trafficking organisations, a figure that makes the USD25 million worth of drug revenues seized by the Mexican authorities in 2006 look paltry by comparison. Meanwhile, the cocaine trade in Peru is estimated to generate up to USD2 billion a year, equivalent to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

Enforcement successes have served to demonstrate the adaptability of the major criminal organisations. While they would prefer to use sophisticated electronic money transfers to move their cash around the world - a phenomenon the report describes as the “dark side of globalisation” - they have not abandoned the physical transportation of cash, which helps them to escape the attentions of regulators and investigators.

Colombian criminal organisations appear to be the most resourceful of all. Colombia’s financial intelligence unit (Unidad de Informacion y Analisis Financiero: UIAF) has identified so many different techniques for laundering money through contraband trade that Bogota and Washington are struggling to provide the training necessary to keep officials abreast of developments. One scheme involved laundering illicit funds by undervaluing imports of Chinese manufactured goods via Panama’s Colon Free Trade Zone. Pre-paid debit cards, internet banking and exploitation of Ecuador’s dollarised economy all provide further scope for Colombian launderers.

http://janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/fr/fr070320_1_n.shtml

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22.3.2007 by admin.

Macedonian government to establish agency handling property confiscations

22/03/2007

Although amendments to the penal code allow for the seizure of illegally acquired assets, implementation has been hampered by the lack of a responsible authority. The Gruevski administration is seeking to change that.

By Marina Stojanovska for Southeast European Times in Skopje — 20/03/07

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s government says it is trying to step up the fight against corruption. [Getty Images]

As part of its effort to fight crime and corruption, the Macedonian government says it is setting up a special agency to manage illegal property that has been confiscated. Funds acquired from the seizure of assets can then be invested in social programmes, police and army reforms.

The government is working to define the precise legal framework for the measures, which it says are provided for by penal code amendments passed in 2003. The amendments introduce property confiscation as an authorised strategy in tackling corruption and crime. Until now, however, this has only been implemented on one occasion — in the trial of Lambe Arnaudov, the former manager of Elektrostopanstvo na Makedonija. Several vehicles were confiscated from Blif, a company connected to the case.

According to the Justice Ministry, legal provisions allowing confiscation of property acquired via crime and corruption have so far been impossible to enforce, due to the lack of an authority that would manage such property. This is the reason for setting up an agency, it says.

Slagjana Taseva, former president of the Macedonian Anti-Corruption Commission, says, “Provisions of the Penalty Code and other legislation should be made operational and systemised. This is about a measure of confiscation and not sanction. And this means that the measure may be issued without a court ruling.”

According to Taseva, co-operation with institutions in other countries in the confiscation of property acquired through organised crime should also be specified.

Former Interior Minister and current MP Pavle Trajanov says many countries have special agencies tackling organised crime, and part of their responsibility is to uncover property acquired illegally.

“After such property is discovered, it is frozen until a court process provides evidence whether the property has or has not been acquired legally. If a property is proven to have been acquired illegally, it is confiscated. If it was acquired legally, it is returned to the owner,” Trajanov says.

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22.3.2007 by admin.

EU’s Rehn warns Russia against blocking Ahtisaari’s blueprint for Kosovo

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned against divisions in the Security Council on the Kosovo issue, saying disagreement would sow regional instability.

22/03/2007

BRUSSELS, Belgium — EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warned Russia on Wednesday (March 21st) not to block the adoption of UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari’s blueprint for Kosovo. “If the UN Security Council fails to agree, there will be instability and even chaos in the region. As in the early 1990s, Europe will have to pay the price, not Russia, not the United States,” he said. Rehn also noted that Kosovo is “an important litmus test” for the EU’s own security policy.

Meanwhile Ahtisaari, who served as UN intermediary in talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, is for the first time openly recommending Kosovo’s secession from Serbia. “Upon careful consideration … I have come to the conclusion that the only viable option for Kosovo is independence, to be supervised by the international community,” Ahtisaari wrote in a four-page letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday reiterated his country’s opposition to the Ahtisaari plan. Speaking to the lower house of the Russian Parliament, he appeared to indicate that Moscow could use its veto power to scuttle the blueprint, rather than abstain from voting. (The New York Times, Washington Post, Danas - 22/03/07; AFP, AP, RTS, Tanjug, Beta, B92, RTK, Top-Channel, 24-ore - 21/03/07)

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22.3.2007 by admin.

Trial of former Macedonian security officials begins next month at Hague

22/03/2007

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The trial of former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski and former security official Jovan Tarculovski is to begin on April 16th, before the UN war crimes tribunal. During a status conference on Wednesday (March 21st), it was announced that the Trial Chamber wants prosecutors to submit their witness list as soon as possible. Boskovski and Tarculovski are charged with crimes against ethnic Albanian civilians, stemming from a 2001 police operation in Ljuboten. (Vecer - 22/03/07; Telma TV, Makfax - 21/03/07)

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22.3.2007 by admin.

NATO troops raid home of fugitive Zupljanin’s relative again

22/03/2007

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — NATO troops raided early Thursday (March 22nd) the Sarajevo home of Slobodan Zupljanin, a relative of war crimes fugitive Stojan Zupljanin. Authorities believe Slobodan Zupljanin is helping Stojan evade capture and extradition to the UN tribunal in The Hague. This was the second such raid in as many weeks.

In other news, prosecutors in Tuzla filed war crime charges Wednesday against two former Bosnian Serb army members, whose names were not released. They are accused of the 1992 murders of three Bosniak civilians in Kozluk. (RTRS — 22/03/07; PBS BiH, NTV Hayat, Fena - 21/03/07)

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22.3.2007 by admin.

Serbischer Mafiaboss gefasst
ERSTELLT 16.03.07, 19:58h
Frankfurt - Eine der schillerndsten Figuren der Organisierten Kriminalität im ehemaligen Jugoslawien, Andrija Draskovic (42), ist am Frankfurter Flughafen verhaftet worden. Der mutmaßliche serbische Mafiaboss gilt als einer der Paten der Unterwelt in der gesamten Balkanregion. Die italienische Justiz in Bari legt ihm den groß angelegten Zigarettenschmuggel von Montenegro nach Italien in den 90er Jahren zur Last. Jährlich soll der italienische Staat dabei um bis zu 3,5 Milliarden Euro geprellt worden sein.

In Serbien wurde Draskovic als Auftraggeber des Mordes an dem Schwerkriminellen und mutmaßlichen Kriegsverbrecher Zeljko Raznatovic „Arkan“ im Januar 2000 genannt. Er konnte sich jedoch durch einen Zeugen, der im letzten Jahr ebenfalls erschossen wurde, aus dem Verfahren heraushalten.

Draskovic war wegen eines Mordes im September 2000 in dritter Instanz freigesprochen worden, weil er „in Selbstverteidigung“ geschossen haben soll. Allerdings war das Mordopfer in Belgrad in den Rücken getroffen worden. Draskovic hatte enge Kontakte zum Geheimdienst und war bei Festnahmen durch die Polizei jeweils innerhalb von Stunden freigekommen. Vier Jahre saß er im Gefängnis, hatte allerdings großzügige Ausgangsregelungen am Wochenende erhalten.

Im Jahr 2004 hatte Draskovic ein Attentat in Belgrad überlebt, bei dem einer seiner Leibwächter getötet wurde. Seitdem soll er sich im kroatischen Adriaort Opatija aufgehalten haben, wo ihm ebenfalls Kontakte zur örtlichen Mafia nachgesagt wurden. Obwohl die Medien ihn immer wieder in Verbindung mit südamerikanischen Heroin-Kartellen brachten, wurde er nie angeklagt. (dpa)

http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1173175257463.shtml

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