Balkan Legal News

The following media round up on international, legal and foreign policy issues from around the Balkans for the period from 5 September to 9 September 2022.

Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia . Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.

Montenegro – 5 September 2022

Montenegro’s outgoing Prime Minister, Dritan Abazovic, presented documentation about tobacco smuggling to the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, naming names. Abazovic said he wanted to show the “road map” of cigarette smuggling in Montenegro. The full article can be found here.

Kosovo – 5 September 2022

Kosovo Serb war crime defendant Svetomir Bacevic used the right to remain silent and declined to enter any plea at Pristina Basic Court. The full article can be found here.

Serbia – 6 September 2022

Neither Ukraine nor Russia have requested for the extradition of the former head of the Ukrainian Secret Service’s Main Directorate of Internal Security, Andriy Naumov, who was arrested in Serbia in June 2022 for treason. The full article can be found here.

Montenegro – 7 September 2022

Government and judicial websites have been forced to go offline, and trials delayed following massive cyber-attacks that started on August 22, and whose perpetrators remain unknown. The full article can be found here.

Albania – 7 September 2022

Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, said that Tirana will be freezing diplomatic ties with Iran after he blamed the Islamic republic for a major cyber-attack in July, which blocked several online services. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 September 2022

The Bosnian state court convicted Momcilo Tesic, a wartime military policeman with the Bosnian Serb Army’s Vlasenica Brigade, of involvement in killing 17 men from the Srebrenica area back in July 1995. The full article can be found here.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – 7 September 2022

Convicted war criminal Radoslav Brdjanin died in hospital in Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina after being admitted earlier in the week with signs of multiple organ failure. The full article can be found here.

Croatia – 8 September 2022

Decades after Bosnian Army members killed their families for no known reason in a small village near Mostar, the relatives are still waiting for a heinous crime to be finally dealt with. The full article can be found here.