The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced on Wednesday that INTERPOL has refused its request to reconsider the decision not to issue international arrest warrants for two senior officials of the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska.
In March, INTERPOL rejected the Court’s initial request to issue red notices for Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, and Nenad Stevandić, Speaker of the Republika Srpska National Assembly.
On Wednesday, the Court confirmed that INTERPOL has not changed its stance on the matter.
“Due to the nature of communication with INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB), and the confidentiality of information, the Court is not in a position to provide further details,” the Court stated.
Dodik and Stevandić, along with Republika Srpska’s Prime Minister Radovan Višković who is not named in the international arrest request are accused of violating Bosnia and Herzegovina’s constitutional order.
In March, the Bosnian Court issued national arrest warrants after the accused failed to respond to summonses from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina for questioning.
A national warrant requires all 16 law enforcement agencies at various levels of government in Bosnia to arrest the individuals in question—something that has yet to occur. All three continue to perform their official duties in Republika Srpska.
The Prosecutor’s Office initially requested international arrest warrants, arguing that Dodik and Stevandić “used their high-ranking positions in Republika Srpska to evade legally mandated border controls, crossed the state border, and left Bosnia.”
Despite the warrants, both officials have traveled abroad multiple times.
Since Dodik was sentenced in March to one year in prison and banned from holding office for six years, Republika Srpska authorities have passed a series of laws that prohibit state-level judicial and investigative bodies from operating in the Serb-majority entity.
