BOSNIA NEWS

SARAJEVO,Bosnia - The 13th Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF) opened yesterday evening, with simultaneous screenings in the Bosnian National Theater and Heineken Open Air Cinema, of the film It’s Hard to be Nice (Tesko je biti fin) by Srđan Vuletić.

The audience attending the opening was greeted by SFF director, Mirsad Purivatra and Competition Features programmer, Elma Tataragić.In his welcome speech Mr. Purivatra said: “At this time there is only one thing that I want to say. All of us, and there is now 800 of us working in the organization of the Festival, have done our best to give you the best edition of the Festival so far. At the end you will be the judges of our success.”

Ms. Tataragić expressed her pride in this year’s selection of the Competition Programme and especially with the fact that “the authors from the Region have recognized the Sarajevo Film Festival as their own.”

A bit later, in the Vatrogasac Open Air Cinema, the Panorama program opened with the screening of Suely in the Sky (O, Ceu de Suely) by Brazillian director Karim Ainouz, who was there to greet the audience together with the Panorama programmer Howard Feinstein.

The Sarajevo Film Festival,first held to a real-life soundtrack of bullets and shelling,will welcome around 100,000 people and 176 movies from 30 countries.It will include the latest Anthony Minghella movie ``Breaking and Entering,'' starring French actress Juliette Binoche, in which she plays a Bosnian woman. U.S. actor Steve Buscemi will be the festival's special guest, while his British colleague Jeremy Irons will preside over the jury for the feature film competition.

Bosnia's Danis Tanovic, who won a 2002 Oscar for his ``No Man's Land,'' will participate, as well as last year's Berlin Golden Bear winner,Bosnian film director,Jasmila Zbanic.

Controversial US director, Oscar and Cannes Festival winner Michael Moore is expected to officially close the festival with his latest film ``Sicko''.

The Sarajevo Film Festival started as an act of defiance during the 1992-95 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia with the idea to offer some sense of normal life to the citizens of besieged Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

The first festival screening was Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction in a basement in 1994 when the audience wondered whether the sounds of bullets come from the screen or from the streets outside. Nine screening locations have now replaced the sand-bag protected basement.

Movies will be shown in 13 programs including competition programs for feature film, short film and regional documentaries.

TUZLA,Bosnia – Representatives of the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) Municipal Board from Tuzla announced that they will take concrete measures after the Serbia passed a decision to extend the imprisonment to a Bosnian citizen Ilija Jurisic. They announced that the measures will be taken, together with the citizens, against the domestic and Serbian authorities.

”We are disappointed over the fact that the imprisonment has been expanded to Ilija Jurisic. We do not understand the attitude of the Bosnian authorities which have not done a thing to release him. Why not initiating any kind of procedure against Ilija Jurisic, only for him to be extradited to Bosnia? Why would not the Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj and the Bosnian Minister of Security Barisa Colak and others visit him?”, all those questions were asked at the SDP Party press conference in Tuzla.

SDP demands the Bosnian Foreign Affairs Minister Sven Alkalaj to send a protest note to Serbian Ambassador to Bosnia for avoidance of Serbian legal organs to react to Bosnia's demands in the Jurisic case.

SDP also announced to organize peaceful protests in the streets of Tuzla in the period from August 25 to September 1.

”We will organize signing of the petition with the demands that the Bosnian authorities take concrete measures in the process of Ilija Jurisic’s release. We will hold protests together with the veteran organizations in Sarajevo and ask the authorities to take concrete and urgent measures, as well as the resignations of Sven Alkalaj, Barisa Colak and others. The protests will be held in early September 2007”, SDP Tuzla announced.

SDP called the citizens of Tuzla and other Bosnian citizens to boycott using the Serbian products and services. They are also of the opinion that the cultural, sport and other activities between Bosnia and Serbia should be terminated until Ilija Jurisic is treated adequately.

Ilija Jurisic is a Bosnian patriot who participated in defending the Bosnian city of Tuzla from the Serbian aggressor,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggresion against Bosnia.Jurisic has been arrested by the Serbian aggressor and has been in a prison in Belgrade since 11 May 2007.

ŠIROKI BRIJEG,Bosnia - Israeli soccer took a turn for the worst Thursday night when Hapoel Tel Aviv fans set fire to the stands in the team's UEFA Cup qualifying match with Široki Brijeg in Bosnia. Two Israeli fans were arrested and one fan was evacuated to a hospital following the incident.

After gaining a 1-0 advantage in the 14th minute, Hapoel fans celebrated by lighting torches and throwing them on the field. Fans threw the torches at the crowd, setting the seats in the old stadium on fire. The UEFA observer and referee immediately ordered the game come to a halt.

The Israeli fans, which were held up by Bosnian police officers before entering the stadium at the start of the game, were confronted once again with the same officers, who beat them severely with sticks.

Many Hapoel Tel Aviv fans suffered bloody injuries from the beating and pushing by Bosnian police officers, who were instructed to evacuate all the Hapoel fans from the stadium.

"One of our fans threw a firecracker into their section and then the Bosnian security forces rushed in and started hitting us indiscriminately," one Hapoel fan said.

The Israeli ambassador in Bosnia has been making attempts to have the two fans who were arrested released in order for them to catch their flight back home.

Only after the evacuation, which took about 15 minutes, was complete did the referee order the game to resume. Israeli fans were not allowed back into the stadium, and missed the end of the match in which their team won 3-0.

Embarrassed Hapoel heads tried to calm things down, but are expecting serious responses from the UEFA administration, which may lead to harsh sanctions or even immediate expulsion from European soccer.

Upon returning to Israel, Hapoel heads will consult with legal advisors in order to try and minimize the sanctions the team will receive.

The Israel Football Association was quick to condemn the incident, saying, "The Football Association condemns all incidents of inappropriate behavior of the fans. It's a shame that a handful of fans harms the beloved team, and gives Hapoel Tel Aviv in particular and Israeli soccer in general a bad name."

Former chairman of the Knesset Inquiry Committee on Violence in Sports Avshalom Vilan said : "It is a shame to Israeli sport in general, and to the soccer fans in particular.I view Hapoel Tel Aviv's fans' violent rioting very severely and urge the team's management to identify the rioters and give their names to the Israeli Police. In addition, they should be banned for good from all of the team's matches in Israel."

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – Crop growers emphasized at a meeting held at the Bosnian Foreign Trade Chamber in Sarajevo that it is necessary for the Bosnian authorities to actively participate in the process of solving the problems of the bakery and crop growing sector, especially now that the prices of crops have grown in the world market.

The Head of the Economy Sector at the Bosnian Foreign Trade Chamber Savo Marjanac stated that the process of wheat were between 95 and 115 EUR per every ton. Now, the average price is 235 EUR per a ton.

”Increase of wheat prices will cause the increase of prices of all products. Draught has made the situation even worse”, Marjanac said. Crop growers claim that their stocks are minor and that wheat needs to be imported.Bosnia could purchase some amounts of wheat from Croatia and Hungary. The annual needs of the country do not excess 400.000 and 500.000 tons of wheat.The Bosnian crop growers are also asking the Bosnian government to eliminate the 6% customs rate for the import from the third world countries.

They emphasized that the growth of corn prices will probably cause the growth of wheat prices.

Bosnians rushed to the stores yesterday to buy flour after officials announced the country's stocks may run out in two weeks.

Bread and flour producers said drought destroyed 30 to 40 percent of crops and additional imports were necessary, but neighboring countries — from where Bosnia mainly imports — do not have enough for themselves.

"The situation is so alarming that some regions of Bosnia may run out of bread," warned Miroslav Cosic, who represents flour producers in the Bosnian Chamber of Commerce.

The Bosnian government should ask neighboring countries for additional corn and wheat and import 150,000 tons of grain from the United States and Argentina, said Muhamed Pilav, an official at one of the largest bakeries in Bosnia, Dukat.

However, deliveries from the U.S. and Argentina take 60 days,Producers concluded at a meeting on Thursday that the prices of basic food products will have to rise as much as 50 percent and representatives of consumer associations asked the government to change the law and impose a zero VAT policy on basic food products.

Bosnia's prime minister told media yesterday that a zero-VAT policy is not possible "because the European Commission would not allow it," but that his government is working on programs that would help citizens deal with the price rises.