Arrests at the polling-place would create chaos

Mr. Buha opposes new OEBS rules

Pale, 6 August, 1997 (AIM) - Mr. Aleksa Buha, RS Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a statement to new agency "Srna" yesterday in Pale saying that the elections could be seriously questioned if the OEBS applied its new paragraph on arresting the accused war criminals while they were at the polling-place. Mr. Buha explained that this paragraph refers to the war criminals listed on the secret lists of Hague Tribunal and that the OEBS representatives admitted indirectly that these lists existed. "Introducing these new rules, OEBS started applying extremely practice. RS delegation complained for withdrawal of this paragraph, since if enforced, it would question the execution of the elections" said Mr. Buha in connection to the meeting in Pale on Monday with Mr. Robert Frovick, Presiding of the OEBS, and Mr. Vladimir Kuznetzov, political director. Mr. Buha warned that the arrests would create chaos not only in the polling place of the incident, but also in other polling places. Mr. Radovan Karadzic, former RS president, convicted for war crimes, registered on the 10th of July - the last day for registration for September elections by informing one OEBS employee that the person is ill and disabled. In connection to this, Mr. Frovick stated even earlier that registering of Mr. Karadzic would not be valid and that he could not vote.

Mr. Buha also opposed the intentions of the OEBS to prolong his mandate after the elections in order to apply and establish the local authorities after the elections. He emphasized that these new paragraphs in the OEBS rules and regulations are only the papers to work with and "insane" proposals, that they are " impossible to allow and illogical".

In connection with the oncoming election, Mr. Buha added that the difficult problem with respect to people who did not register should be settled, in Brcko and elsewhere, as well as the people who were registered against their will to vote in the Federation of B&H.(end)