Milan Miličević, president of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), the largest opposition party in Republika Srpska, was arrested on Monday, the party confirmed.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska announced that police officers from its Criminal Police Directorate, under the supervision of the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption, Organized, and Most Serious Forms of Economic Crime of the Republika Srpska Public Prosecutor’s Office, and acting on orders from the Special Department of the District Court in Banja Luka, are conducting an operation code-named “Blok.”
“As part of this operation, individuals M.M. (Milan Miličević), M.D., and M.J., all from Teslić, have been deprived of their freedom due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that they committed criminal acts of trading in influence and receiving bribes,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska stated on June 9.
The statement further noted that during the investigation, police officers, acting on court orders over the past six months, seized approximately 45,000 euros believed to originate from the corrupt activities of the aforementioned individuals. This money has been deposited in a court repository.
The police also published a photograph of the seized money.
Searches are currently underway at locations used by the arrested individuals, as authorities seek to recover an additional 125,000 euros believed to stem from the same corrupt activities, through which the accused allegedly illegally changed the parliamentary majority in the Teslić Municipal Assembly by trading in influence.
The Criminal Police Directorate has submitted a report on the committed criminal offenses against M.M., M.D., and M.J. to the Republika Srpska Public Prosecutor’s Office. Following criminal processing, the arrested individuals will be handed over to the competent prosecutor of the Republika Srpska Public Prosecutor’s Office within the legal timeframe, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced.
SDS Denounces Arrest as Political Pressure
The City Board of the Serb Democratic Party in Teslić stated that “members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, specifically the General Crime Directorate, acting on the order and pressure of political centers of power, today raided the premises of the Teslić City Administration, the family home of Mayor Dr. Milan Miličević, as well as the homes of two other councilors in the City Assembly.”
“This is a clear attempt at political intimidation, creating chaos, and violence against the freely expressed will of citizens. This is not a fight against crime – this is naked repression against dissidents,” the SDS Teslić City Board posted on Facebook.
The Serb Democratic Party holds 11 out of 83 seats in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. In the state Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has two deputies in the House of Representatives and one delegate in the House of Peoples.
