RADANOVIĆ: SERBS SHOULD SUE FEDERATION FOR NOT RETURNING 673 MILITARY APARTMENTS

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 5 /SRNA/ - The president of the Committee for the Protection of Rights of Serbs in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, Đorđe Radanović, has called on all Serbs who hold tenancy rights in that entity to sue the FBiH for not returning 673 military apartments.

"Persons who held tenancy rights should file lawsuits against the FBiH before competent courts, which will issue judgments for the return of the apartments to their ownership and will also grant compensation for the 30 years they were prohibited from using them," Radanović told SRNA. He has said that federal bills aimed at permanently depriving Serbs of 673 military apartments, which have 35,800 square meters of residential space and were built from the JNA Fund, are still before the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament. "I hope these bills will not be passed if there is even a shred of morality among those who decide on them. These bills aim to remove the property rights of Serbs over the apartments by eliminating their tenancy rights," emphasized Radanović. He explained that the bills stipulate that a Serb who held tenancy rights would be compensated with BAM 1,000 per square meter minus one percent depreciation from the time of the apartment's construction. "For example, for an apartment built in 1989, the compensation would be reduced by 35 percent, resulting in only BAM 650 per square meter, while the current market value of these apartments in Sarajevo exceeds BAM 3,000. This means that Serbs are being undercompensated by BAM 2,350 per square meter," emphasized Radanović. He pointed out that all Bosniaks and Croats who were members of the JNA have had their apartments returned in the FBiH, while only Serbs have been denied. Radanović has said that the Legal Aid Service of the Committee has a record of around 200 military apartments. The FBiH Government has officially informed the FBiH Parliament of the existence of 673 military apartments with a total area of 35,800 square meters of residential space. On January 9, the FBiH Government in Mostar approved the Draft Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Return, Allocation, and Sale of Apartments and the Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Sale of Apartments with Tenancy Rights, and forwarded them to further parliamentary procedure. The Draft Amendments and Supplements to the Law on the Return, Allocation, and Sale of Apartments, among other things, stipulate that an apartment will be made available to the municipality in whose area it is located if the one who provided it for use does not submit a request for its return within the prescribed period. The Bill on Amendments to the Law on the Sale of Apartments with Tenancy Rights stipulates that a holder of rights under a purchase agreement who remained in service with the armed forces outside the territory of BiH after December 14, 1995, and did not acquire new tenancy or related rights, will have the right to compensation from the FBiH of BAM 1,000 per square meter of the apartment, reduced by an annual depreciation rate of one percent, instead of property registration.