ISTANBUL (AFP) – A Turkish publisher said yesterday he and a translator had been indicted after a prosecutor judged three erotic books, including one by renowned French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, to be obscene. The books in question were Apollinaire’s “The Exploits of a Young Don Juan,” Turkish writer Ben Mila’s “The Fairy’s Pendulum” and a collection of writings by various authors published in Turkish as “Letters from an Informed and Experienced Bourgeois Woman,” Irfan Sanci, the owner of Sel Publishing, said. The case was launched under a penal code article that criminalizes the dissemination of obscene material deemed of no literary value but which excludes scientific and literary works from its scope, Sanci said. “The court case came after so-called experts contacted by the prosecutor said these three books were not literary works,” Sanci told AFP. “Does this mean that books read all over the world will no longer be considered literary works just because some people whose literary expertise is dubious say so? Or will Apollinaire now be considered a porn writer?”

SARAJEVO (AFP) – A Bosnian court decided yesterday to extend the detention of a Croat right-wing lawmaker who fled to Bosnia after being sentenced by a Zagreb court to 10 years in jail for war crimes during Croatia’s 1991-95 war. Branimir Glavas, who was detained in southern Bosnia on Wednesday, is to remain in custody for up to 40 more days, the Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina said in a statement. The decision came as a surprise, as Glavas was widely expected to be released since he also holds Bosnian citizenship.

TIRANA (AFP) – Albanian Labor Minister Anastas Duro resigned yesterday after his party quit Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s ruling coalition and joined the opposition ahead next month’s legislative election, a party official said. Duro left the government after the Unity for Human Rights Party signed a coalition agreement on Wednesday with the opposition Socialists ahead of the June 28 election, party leader Duro said. The party, which defends the rights of the Greek minority in Albania, has been allied with Berisha since his center-right Democratic Party won a general election in 2005.

Serbia Interior Minister Ivica Dacic says authorities are raising security measures to the highest level for the upcoming visit by US Vice President Joe Biden. Biden is expected to arrive as part of his Balkan tour next week. The exact date for his visit to Serbia has not yet been announced. (AP)

The Croatian government said yesterday it would increase public sector wages in the years to come, following a 6 percent cut to cope with the economic downturn, which triggered strike action, national radio reported. The government concluded the deal during the night with union officials representing 180,000 employees in the health and education sectors. (AFP)

Thousands of Romania’s workers and civil servants rallied in Bucharest yesterday, demanding higher wages and secure jobs, in a demonstration of growing discontent with the government’s anti-crisis response. The center-left cabinet has frozen state pay and is expected to restructure bloated administration and monitor inefficient, loss-making companies to comply with requirements of a 20-billion-euro ($27 billion) IMF-led aid package Romania secured in March. “We want jobs,” read a banner carried by unionists blowing whistles and shouting, “Thieves, thieves.” (Reuters)