1 July
The Media Hearing
Board, which assists the Temporary Media Commissioner in determining
whether violation of media law in Kosovo has occured, convened to hear
a case filed by Baton Haxhiu and Blerim Shala against Bota Sot. The
newspaper had in its 12 and 18 April 2002 editions, accused the two
of collaborating with the former Serb regime. MHB determined that the
aggressive and offensive language of Bota Sot in the said articales
violated UNMIK Regulation 2002/37 On the Conduct of the Print Media
in Kosovo and the Temporary Code of Conduct for the Print Media in Kosovo.
4 July
The European Union announced that, through the European Agency
for Reconstruction, it is dedicating Euro 2 million for the provision
of legal aid in Kosovo under its 2002 programme. The legal aid programme
for 2002 will build on the work of last year's programme, under which
the European Agency for Reconstruction and the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates
established a mechanism for the provision of legal aid (free legal advice
and representation) in civil cases.
UNMIK Customs officers seized over 20 million cigarettes in raids
on premises in the Lesak (Leposavic) area of Kosovo. The seizure was
a result of close cooperation between UNMIK Customs, KFOR and UNMIK
Police. Initial enquiries suggest that the cigarettes, all Marlboro
brand, originated in Greece or Cyprus and were brought into Kosovo through
Serbia. The seizure is highly significant in the light of UNMIK Customs'
anti-cigarette smuggling strategy, developed with the support of SRSG
Michael Steiner's Pristina Declaration on regional cigarette smuggling.
Since its establishment the Kosovo Assembly endorsed its first
law on basic pensions in Kosovo. The assembly also voted in support
of a draft resolution compiled by the government on the rights of communities
and on the conditions for the return of IDPs and refugees.
5 July
SRSG Michael Steiner visted the IDP center in Smederevo in Serbia
where he announced the availability of millions of Euros for IDPs who
wish to return voluntarily to Kosovo. The Italian government gave Euro
3.8 million for the return of IDPs to three locations to Peja and the
German government donated Euro 1 million for returns to three villages
in Klina, he announced. Mr. Steiner later held talks in Belgrade with
the Serbian Deputy-Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic.
The European Region, which includes 51 countries and almost a
billion people, has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO),
free of the polio virus. WHO made the announcement in a press conference
on 5 July 2002. In 1988, the World Health Assembly launched a global
initiative to eradicate polio as a joint project of WHO, UNICEF, Rotary
International, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. The aim of the initiative is to eradicate polio by 2005.
Since then the number of polio cases decreased from an estimated 350,000
cases in 125 countries to 480 reported cases in 10 countries in the
year 2001.
6 July
UNMIK Police announced
the arrests of eight individuals on suspicion of involvement in a brutal
attack on a Kosovo Albanian family in Glogovac last year. 'The attack
on the family Hajra resulted in the deaths of Mr. Hajra, his wife and
three of his four children', said UNMIK Police Pristina Regional Commander
Paul Hamlin in a press briefing at UNMIK HQ.
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