Quantcast
Channel: Extremis Project » Muslim
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

News from Central and Eastern Europe, Friday 31st May 2013

0
0

BALKANS

Presseurop: Croatia responsible for crimes during Bosnian War. ‘Six former political and military leaders of the Bosnian Croats were sentenced to a total of 111 years in prison on May 29 by the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia. They were found guilty of implementing an ethnic cleansing operation from 1992 to 1994 aimed at expelling Muslims from the area and creating Herzég Bosna, a Croat entity within Bosnia-Herzegovina, drawn according to the 1939 boarders, and which was to be annexed by Croatia.

The court also condemned the “criminal enterprise,” reports Croatian daily Novi list on its front page. “Croatia was found guilty of aggression towards Bosnia-Herzegovina,” the paper notes, because the verdict also includes former Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, his former Defence Minister Gojko Šušak, and General Janko Bobetko, [Chief of Staff from 1992-1995].’

SETimes: Hague verdicts should not spark a regional divide. ‘The verdicts from The Hague tribunal on the former Yugoslavia should not create an atmosphere of “winners” vs “losers,” analysts said.

“It is our common history that should we all be ashamed of. But, we need to gather the strength, and to face the facts and finally start a different way to look at our future,” Vehid Sehic, president of the Forum of Tuzla Citizens, an NGO which deals with war crimes and human rights, told SETimes. “As long as we do not make such approach, we will not be able to speak objectively about the war that took place here, 20 years ago.”‘

BULGARIA

Focus: Ataka leader: Yane Yanev is Bulgaria ex-PM’s doormat and used toilet paper. ‘“The anger of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (CEDB), expressed through their spokesperson Yane Yanev [leader of the Order, Law and Justice (OLJ) party, which did not enter the parliament after the latest general elections], is directed at the Prosecutor’s Office, which finally started doing its job,” said Volen Siderov, leader of Ataka party, speaking with journalists after the meeting between CEDB leader Boyko Borisov and OLJ leader Yane Yanev’

GREECE

Video – Ekathimerini: Anti-racism legislation a step closer to EU rulebook, Brussels saysPassing the anti-racism bill in Parliament would bring Greece a step closer to the European Union’s legal framework, a spokesman for EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said in Brussels on Thursday.

Asked by Kathimerini’s Brussels correspondent Nikos Chrysoloras if he expected Greece to do more to strengthen its legal framework against hate and racially-motivated crimes, Michele Cercone said the Commissioner remained concerned about racial and extremist violence in Greece.

“Of course, the law that is currently being discussed by the Greek authorities in order to implement the European framework decision would certainly be an important step toward fighting this phenomenon,” Cercone said.

However, the official said, “it will not be a solution by itself.”’

Muslim association receives second threatening letter‘The Muslim Association of Greece said Thursday that it had received the second threatening letter in as many weeks, a terse message written in English and Greek on a document bearing the logo of the ultra-right Golden Dawn.

The message reads, “If Provocation or not you see it in a few days we will f*** you Muslims in Greece. Everything is ready.”

The party, which had denied sending a letter bearing a similar threat on May 17, had not commented on the new letter by late Thursday.’

Enet English: Golden Dawn MP’s gun goes off at Athens airport. ‘Golden Dawn MP Antonis Gregos’ gun goes off at an Aegean Airlines counter before a flight to Thessaloniki. He claims the gun was in the hands of an airline official when it fired into the ground’

The Washington Post: Surge in hate crimes divides Greek coalition, parties submit rival draft legislation. ‘Greece’s coalition government was in disarray Thursday over efforts to crackdown on growing racist violence, as majority conservatives and their center-left partners clashed over the best way to tackle anti-immigrant violence.

The embarrassing rift in conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ government occurred amid pressure from the European Union and human rights groups to toughen anti-racism laws[...]

Samaras’ center-right New Democracy party refused to endorse draft legislation overhauling laws on racial equality, and instead submitted more limited amendments to laws passed in 1979.

But his coalition partners, the Socialist Pasok party and Democratic Left, submitted the more extensive proposals as a private members bill.’

HUNGARY

The Times of Israel: Hungarian Jews protest naming Budapest street after anti-Semite. ‘Amid a string of anti-Semitic incidents in Hungary, the umbrella organization of Hungarian Jews has protested the naming of a Budapest street after an anti-Semitic author.

“The Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary is shocked to learn of the renaming of a street in the Second District after Cecile Tormay,” read a statement sent on Thursday by the Jewish umbrella group, also known as Mazsihisz.’

RUSSIA

The Globe and Mail: Who’s next? Putin critics worry as Russia clampdown spreads. ‘A widening clampdown on groups and individuals critical or independent of Russian President Vladimir Putin has left his opponents asking: “Who’s next?”

Liberal economist Sergei Guriev’s flight from Russia under pressure from state investigators has deepened the sense of alarm as the Kremlin broadens a drive to stifle dissent and quell protests that began in December, 2011.’

The Moscow Times: Father of Chechen Shot by the FBI Says Authorities Lying‘The father of a Chechen immigrant to the United States shot by the FBI last week has cast doubt on the U.S. authorities’ claims of acting in self-defense and said his son “could not have committed a crime,” he said at a news conference Thursday.’
The Moscow Times

Press TV: Russia reacts to France gay marriage law. ‘Russia’s ombudsman for children’s rights says a moratorium should be imposed on adoptions of Russian children by French citizens, following France’s approval of same-sex marriage and adoptions by the couples.

Pavel Astakhov said Thursday that an agreement between Moscow and Paris on adopting Russian children needs to be reconsidered since France’s approval of the same-sex marriage law is in direct contradiction to Russian legislation. ‘

Reuters: Russian forces kill three suspected rebels in Dagestan shootout. ‘Russian special forces killed three suspected insurgents on Thursday in a private house in the restive Republic of Dagestan, security officials said.

A group of suspected militants were surrounded in the house near Khasavyurt, 90 km (56 miles) west of the regional capital Makhachkala, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement.’

Ria Novosti: Illegal Migration ‘National Security Threat’ – FSB. ‘Illegal migration poses a security threat to Russia as a conduit for the infiltration of militants and foreign intelligence agents, Federal Security Service (FSB) deputy head Alexander Roshchupkin said on Thursday.

“We expect the ongoing armed conflicts, in particular in Syria as well as the effects of the ‘Arab Spring’ to lead to an inflow of militants, who are now acquiring practical experience, via illegal migration channels,” he told a hearing at the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.

Other threats stemming from illegal migration involve the activities of foreign intelligence services, he warned.’

RUVR: Russia condemns Neo-Nazi gathering in Tartu. ‘Justifying Neo-Nazism is inadmissible, the Russian embassy in Estonia said in a statement on Thursday, following a meeting between Estonian and Finnish Neo-Nazis at a bar in Tartu.

Earlier, the Estonian security police announced that there was nothing criminal about the Tartu action.
The Russian embassy accused the Estonian government of being too soft towards Neo-Nazis.

The Tartu meeting is of the same kind as the annual gatherings of Estonian Waffen-SS veterans who had collaborated with Hitler and who are now honored with state awards, the statement says.’

Lithuanian woman plotted suicide bombing in Russia. ‘

A 24-year-old Lithuanian woman was found guilty on Thursday of plotting a suicide bombing attack in Russia, but she walked free from court because she had already served her sentence while in pretrial detention.

Egle Kusaite was detained at a bus terminal in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas in October 2009. She initially confessed to planning a suicide bombing in Russia, but later withdrew her testimony saying it was made under duress.

The woman, a convert to Islam, claimed that she had fallen victim to a provocation by Lithuanian state security services, which had been trying to frame her for several years.

 A court in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius found Kusaite guilty of plotting a terrorist attack, but cleared her from charges of setting up a criminal group. She was sentenced to 10 months in prison, the mildest sentence possible, though Prosecutor Mindaugas Duda requested a 10-year jail term.’

Vestnik Kavkaza: Alexei Vlasov: Moscow should first deal with corruption and only then with migrants. ‘The director of the Center for Political Studies “North-South” and the editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, Alexei Vlasov, commented today in an interview to the radio station”City-FM” on the prospects of the proposals made today in the morning by the Moscow Mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, to protect the capital of Russia from the migrant works staying in the city illegally.

Vlasov said that many migrants, indeed, come to Moscow for one season. “But these seasons can be different. One cannot talk of specific months. Grey money will pave the way for those who want to earn anyway,” he said, noting that the sweep of the capital of the workers will not give the desired effect. “The corruption is strong, we should start with ourselves, and then move on to the problem of migrants.”‘

Second victim of terrorist attack on May 25 in Makhachkala dies. ‘Another person injured as a result of Saturday’s terrorist attack in Makhachkala near the building of the Interior Ministry died today in hospital without regaining consciousness.

The victim of the explosion was a traffic police lieutenant, Magomed Magomedov, RIA News reported with reference to the Interior Ministry. “The officer died in the Republican orthopedic and trauma center. He was in critical condition,” the source said.’

SERBIA

Balkan Insight: Serbia Mulls Offering Rights to Gay Couples. ‘A draft law on same-sex partnerships in Serbia will be presented at a public hearing scheduled for June 4.

The draft law introduces the right of inheritance for same-sex partners who live in a long-term union.

In case of the death of one of them, the other would inherit the pension of the late partner, the draft law says.

It also envisions that same-sex partners will be able to visit each other in hospital as members of the immediate family.

The authors of the text maintain that the law is not a step towards gay marriagem an issue that remains controversial in many European countries.

“These are only possible legal solutions aimed at regulating the status of people of the same sex who live together,” Suzana Paunovic, director of the Serbian Office for Human Rights, said.’

Comment – LSE EUROPP Blog: The history of Serbia’s youth protests illustrates the importance of learning and adaptation in protest tactics. ‘In the wake of the Arab spring, it is clear that protest movements are still a viable means to effect change on a national level. In this light, Olena Nikolayenko looks at the development of the Serbian youth protest movement, Otpor, from its origins in the early 1990s to its role in the electoral defeat of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. She writes that the protest movement owes much of its success from its ability to learn from its own experiences and those of protest movements in other countries.’

The Guardian: Hague tribunal acquits Serbian state security chiefs of war crimes. ‘Two Serbian state security chiefs who facilitated the use of paramilitary murder squads in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s have been acquitted of all charges of war crimes in what is certain to be seen as a debacle for the prosecution at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Jovica Stanisic, one of the closest aides and state security chief of Slobodan Milosevic, and the late Serbian leader’s sidekick and field officer, Franko Simatovic, walked free on Thursday after 10 years in detention and five years on trial.

The judges found that the pair, widely seen as two of Milosevic’s key henchmen in the wars of the 1990s, created, organised, directed, and funded special forces teams and paramilitary formations in Serbia whose function was to terrorise non-Serbs out of parts of Croatia and Bosnia.

While declaring that the units were responsible for war crimes and mass murder, the judges ruled that the two accused could not be held responsible for any of the crimes.’

TURKEY

RUVR: Turkey was preparing two attacks at military base on Syrian border. ‘Several men detained in Turkey’s southern Adana province on Thursday, who are suspected of links to Al-Nusra Front extremist group close to Al-Qaeda, had been preparing to attack the Indzhirlik military base on Syrian border. Turkish security force seized some amount of sarin gas that had been transported to Turkey from Libya by plane, Al Watan newspaper says.’

Vestnik Kavkaza: Terrorist attack prevented in Turkey’s Adana. ‘A terrorist attack has been prevented in the Adana Province of Turkey. Six suspects were caught preparing a blast similar to the one in Reihanli (Hatay Province), Trend reports.

The law enforcers caught the group after receiving information about the terrorist plans of Jabhat An-Nusra.

Two minibuses exploded in Reihanli earlier this month. 52 people were killed. The suspected organizer of the blasts was detained.’

UKRAINE

Interfax: Ukraine Opposition Parties Supporting Anti-Semitism, Say European Parliament Members and Leading U.S. Jewish Newspaper. ‘Members of the European Parliament and a prominent U.S. Jewish newspaper have in recent days criticized Ukraine’s opposition parties for embracing anti-Semitism by aligning themselves in a coalition with the extremist Svoboda (Freedom) party.

In a detailed analysis of Svoboda and its web of political alliances, The Algemeiner newspaper said that Svoboda, which has been criticized by Jewish organizations in America and Israel, is benefiting strongly from the support of Yulia Tymoshenko’s Batkivschyna (Fatherland) Party and UDAR, the party of boxer Vitali Klitschko.’


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images