The Serbian member of the presidency of Mosna and Herzegovina (BiH) Milorad Dodik, who is also the leader of the ruling party in the Republika Srpska, said last night at the session of the Assembly of the Republika Srpska (RS) that the government is eavesdropping on opposition MPs.
"There is no government that does not listen to the opposition. I listened. I have the right to listen. You want me to bring you recordings of what is being said about you," said Dodik, addressing MP Nebojša Vukanović from the club of the opposition Serbian Democratic Party.
Dodik, the leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats and a Serbian member of the BiH Presidency, asked the Minister of Internal Affairs of the RS, Dragan Lukač, whether the videos he was providing him were true, and then "what is he doing there", i.e. why is he not reacting to the behavior of opposition MPs Vukanović and Drašek Stanivuković.
"You shouldn't beat them, but you should tell them. Get the hell out of here," Dodik said, accusing the opposition in the RS of being a "disturbing factor."
He then criticized the Vice President of the National Assembly, Milan Petković.
"Either you will lead the assembly or you will not lead it. Well, since I decide on everything. Change the rules of procedure and stop this," said Dodik, alluding that Petković should have prevented opposition MPs from throwing insults during his speech.
Dodik also criticized the Prime Minister of the RS, Radovan Višković, for his statement that there may have been some wrong moves by the authorities during the state of emergency, introduced due to the epidemic of the new coronavirus.
"I want it to be written in the parliamentary records that there was no mistake during the state of emergency," said Dodik.
The National Assembly of the RS started a special session yesterday, where a decision should be made to lift the state of emergency, introduced on March 28.
Dodik, who was in East Sarajevo yesterday, appeared towards the end of the session and spent almost an hour at the podium.
Dodik said today that his statement about the MUP of Republika Srpska eavesdropping on the opposition, made last night at the session of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, was a performance.
"Of course, that was part of the relationship in the Assembly itself. And the one who listens does not announce it and does not announce it publicly. It is what those in the opposition would call a performance, or what ordinary people would call banter," said Dodik. was reported by Alternative Television (ATV).
Several opposition MPs, as well as Transparency International BiH, today submitted criminal charges against Dodik to the BiH Prosecutor's Office for unauthorized wiretapping, which is a criminal offense.
Borenović: After declaring that he was eavesdropping on the opposition, Dodik should have been detained last night
The president of the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) and member of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, Branislav Borenović, today filed a criminal complaint against Dodik with the Prosecutor's Office of BiH for the criminal offense of unauthorized wiretapping.
"Dodik admitted that he committed and continues to commit the criminal act of unauthorized wiretapping of third parties, in this case members of the opposition parties," Borenović told reporters in Banja Luka.
He assessed that this is a precedent based on which, in a normal country, the internal affairs authorities would have already reacted on the order of the prosecution and that Dodik would have been detained and questioned last night.
"It is about a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina who confessed to a criminal offense, no less, in front of the lectern of the highest legislative body in the Republic of Srpska. Since the competent authorities did not react, it is our obligation to file a criminal complaint," said Borenović.
He added that Dodik's statement last night behind the speaker in the RS parliament that the government was eavesdropping on the opposition and that he personally listened to recorded conversations of opposition MPs, was not only an admission of a criminal act, but also called into question the basic constitutional principles on which the functioning of society is based.
The criminal offense of unauthorized wiretapping carries a prison sentence of six months to five years.
Šarović (SDS): Dodik would have to resign
The Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) will "initiate all mechanisms" before the competent institutions, prosecutors in the Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to conduct an extensive investigation into the wiretapping of members of the opposition parties, the SDS Presidency decided today at a session in Banja Luka.
SDS President Mirko Šarović said that this affair can surpass all similar cases so far.
"The highest-ranking official from Republika Srpska (Serbian member of the BiH presidency Milorad Dodik) by his own admission (on Wednesday) in the highest democratic body of the RS admits that illegal wiretapping of parliamentarians was carried out," Šarović told reporters in Banja Luka.
He added that this is one of the most serious crimes.
Šarović emphasized that it is the duty of the SDS to find a way and possibility to "stop this type of lawlessness" by filing a collective criminal complaint against all MPs.
"In any normal country, he would have to resign, but knowing his moral character, that will not happen. If there is an opportunity to impeach him because of what he has done, we will use it," said Šarović.
He said that Dodik has once again shown that he represents "a threat to the progress of Republika Srpska".
"This is such an important moment in which we must show determination and that this is not a country of lawlessness, nor a country of one individual, but that it is a democratic country," Šarović said.
Speaking about the holding of the "Mass for Blajburg" last weekend in Sarajevo, Šarović said that the SNSD missed the opportunity to condemn the Ustasha movement and its wrongdoings, because they did not vote for the initiative condemning it in the BiH parliament.
"They avoided being part of that majority together with us, protecting their coalition partners," said Šarović, stating that "the Serbian Orthodox Church stood behind that resolution."
Commenting on the fact that SNSD's adoption of the budget for 2020 and the holding of local elections is conditional on the departure of CEC members, the leader of SDS said that Dodik and his party "will no longer be able to manipulate the electoral will of citizens".
"On the basis of their action, you can see how important the CEC is to them. We are telling them that this institution should work in the interests of citizens, not those who use it to manipulate elections," Šarović emphasized.
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