The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in a final session on February 19, requested the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to sentence the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, to five years in prison and to ban him from engaging in political activity for ten years.
The same maximum sentence was requested for Milos Lukić, acting director of the Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska.
They are accused of disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative, Christian Schmidt, and face up to five years in prison and a ban on political activity.
Dodik is accused of signing presidential decrees that validated two unconstitutional laws of the Republic of Srpska, which had previously been annulled by the High Representative. Lukić is accused of publishing these laws and decrees, which stated that the decisions of the High Representative and the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina would not be implemented in the entity.
There is an increased presence of police forces from the Ministry of the Interior of Sarajevo Canton in front of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Supporters of Dodik have gathered there.
While waiting for the conclusion of a year-long trial, pressure on the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is growing.
On one hand, the leadership of the RS is threatening with “radical decisions” and the abandonment of all institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina if Dodik is convicted.
Pressure is also being exerted by representatives of neighboring Serbia and Hungary.
On February 17, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated in Budapest that he hopes “no judicial decisions will be made in Bosnia and Herzegovina that could jeopardize stability.”
Two days before the final session, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also called for “the cessation of the punishment of Dodik,” who, along with the entire leadership of the RS, is under sanctions from the United States and the European Union for corruption and undermining Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the sessions of the RS Assembly in June 2023, unconstitutional laws were adopted that stated that legal acts of the High Representative would not be published in the Official Gazette of the RS, and that decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which according to the Constitution of this country are final and binding, would not be implemented in the territory of this entity.
The High Representative, Christian Schmidt, annulled these two entity laws on July 1, 2023, through his Bonn powers and amended the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, making it a criminal offense not to implement the decisions of the High Representative.
On July 7, 2023, Dodik signed decrees validating these laws, and they were published in the Official Gazette of the RS. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment against Dodik and Lukić on August 11, and the court confirmed it on September 11.
