Milorad Dodik, the President of the Republic of Srpska (RS), threatened Serbs who remain working in the joint institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), stating that they will be branded as “permanent traitors.”
“We will hang their names on plaques wherever we can, in the media, everywhere. We will not tolerate betrayal,” said Dodik during a press conference in Banja Luka.
He added that Serbs who hold positions in these institutions do not deserve them because they are experts but because they are Serbs. “These mandates belong to the Serbian people and RS, not to them,” Dodik stated.
He emphasized that if the National Assembly of RS decides that these mandates should be returned, they must be returned. “RS cannot afford to forgive, and we will not forgive those who stay,” he concluded.
The Sarajevo-based portal Istraga reported today that the Agency for Investigation and Protection (SIPA) temporarily suspended its activities in the RS area. They mentioned that there is no official order for this, but Darko Ćulum, the director of SIPA, who is from RS, instructed subordinates to suspend all activities temporarily in the entity.
It was reportedly ordered that SIPA can only operate in an “intelligence” capacity in RS, but not conduct any specific actions until mid-next week, when a final decision on further activities will be made.
According to Istraga, since the National Assembly of RS passed a law on Thursday prohibiting the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, the BiH Court, and SIPA from operating in RS, Ćulum was called to Banja Luka for a meeting with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) of RS.
SIPA’s director allegedly refused to issue a written order preventing SIPA members from working in RS. To ease pressure, he reportedly informed department heads in SIPA to halt most activities in RS until Wednesday and suspend operational cooperation with the MUP of RS.
However, Ćulum denied these reports, telling Sarajevo’s “Oslobođenje” newspaper, “This is not true,” refusing to comment on the alleged temporary operations of SIPA in RS.
According to Istraga, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS today refused to execute two orders from the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, and SIPA did not provide a criminal-operational record for two individuals from Banja Luka arrested for threatening BiH Court Judge Sena Uzunović, who led the trial against Dodik.
During today’s press conference, Dodik verbally attacked a journalist from the Federation of BiH Television (FTV), Đorđe Vujatović, for asking him a question.
“What are you doing there? Out of so many media, you focused on this. Here, we are democrats, we give chances and respect, while a journalist from RTRS cannot ask a question in the Federation of BiH; it hasn’t been recorded for 15 years. I respect you,” Dodik said.
He added that Vujatović “should try to get out” and asked how much his salary was.
“I know you got instructions from the editorial office to ask me, but be careful,” Dodik warned.
Dodik: No Harm Shall Come to Bosniaks
Dodik also announced that tomorrow, along with Serbian member of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović, they would request from the RS police at the Ministry of Internal Affairs to operate solely within the framework of legal authority and not allow any violence towards anyone.
“We will especially tell them to enter areas where Bosniaks live and assure them that we are ready to defend their security and that no Bosniak or Muslim will have a hair harmed on their head,” Dodik said in Banja Luka.
He further added that “any Serb who attempts to verbally or otherwise threaten their stability or security will have a problem with the RS police.”
Regarding SIPA’s operations in RS, Dodik announced that when the law passed on Thursday in the National Assembly of RS comes into force, SIPA’s activities in RS will be prohibited.
“The moment the law comes into effect, anyone with a SIPA badge present in the Republic of Srpska will be arrested because the operation of this organization is prohibited,” said Dodik.
