"Joint criminal enterprise", "Dictatorship", "Attempt to expropriate the Republic of Srpska", "Continuation of the political hunt", "Deliberately causing disorder and crisis". These theses are at the very top of the reactions of politicians from Republika Srpska, after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment against the President of the RS Milorad Dodik and the director of the Official Gazette, Miloš Lukić. Similar to a month ago when the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent the indictment to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation, only much harsher, the sign of equality between Dodik and the RS was once again placed through an attack on entity institutions.
"An attack on an individual, in this case on the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, is certainly an attack on the entire Republika Srpska, and it is important to repeat this, because this is another confirmation of what is represented by the imposed framework called Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is different from everything that was agreed and internationally confirmed in Dayton", is categorical entity Prime Minister Radovan Višković, claiming that foreigners are managing Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"What an indictment"
For the Serbian member of the BiH Presidency, Željka Cvijanović, it is a continuation of the political pursuit of the RS and its officials. The intention, he says, is to crush and remove those who prevent the unlawful seizure of property and the further dispossession of the RS.
"Only in Bosnia and Herzegovina is it possible for an unelected foreigner, along with an illegal high representative, to place himself above democratically elected institutions and change laws, absolutely outside the powers defined by the Dayton Agreement, and then on that basis settle accounts with the elected, legal and legitimate president of the RS ", pointed out Cvijanović, who, together with the entire leadership of the RS, is on the American list of sanctions due to the adoption of laws related to the non-publication of the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the high representative on the territory of the RS.
This was the reason why the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought charges against Dodik and Lukić, because the former signed the Decree on the publication of the law, and the latter, as acting director of the Official Gazette of the RS, immediately published it. Just two days before the indictment was confirmed, Dodik said that it was a farce.
"No matter what the indictment is, I don't live with it," said Dodik, adding that journalists deal with the topic more than he is interested in it.
A strong response to defend peace
The President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandić, the first man of United Srpska, came to the defense of the coalition partner. He is convinced that the indictment represents an attack on peace and the Dayton Agreement, but that the RS will have an adequate and legally defined response.
"It is a joint landing, an attack on the institutions of Republika Srpska. Republika Srpska is not afraid of the indictment, they should be afraid of our answers. This is an attack on peace, on the Dayton Agreement, an attempt to make the illegal decisions of the illegal high representative produce legal consequences," said Stevandić.
On July 1, the High Representative in BiH, Kristijan Šmit, imposed amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, which stipulate a prison sentence of up to five years for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative. Coincidentally or not, just a few hours before the confirmation of the indictment, political veterans of SNSD Nebojša Radmanović and Nikola Špirić, members of the leadership of both houses of the state parliament, provided full support to Dodik. They warn that they have been following "for a long time Šmit's activities aimed at derogating the constitutional position and laws of the Republika Srpska, by which he not only disrespects its institutions and legally elected representatives, but directly works on their collapse."
The Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Staša Košarac, also scheduled a meeting of Serbian representatives in the Council of Ministers for Tuesday (September 12) immediately before the decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A withdrawal from the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not excluded, he says.
It's time to plead guilty
For the opposition, the matter was clear from the beginning. It is, they claim, a political game from which they expect nothing.
"This is a political-judicial play. In any case, it will introduce some kind of tension. In my opinion, this is all irrelevant. "I am not looking forward to the confirmation of the indictment against Dodik," said PDP President Branislav Borenović.
Lawyer Vlado Adamović returns to the court process and the fact that an indictment does not mean a conviction. He says that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be allowed to do its job.
"It is not necessary that the verdict will be a conviction, because the law also foresees an acquittal. We'll see. Now we can already expect a plea call. I would appeal that this be a regular court proceeding, that it is not given more attention," Adamović told N1, expecting that in this case the illegitimacy of the high representative on the one hand and the non-implementation of his decisions on the other would be considered.
Bonus video:
