The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) proposed in the indictment against the President of the Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik that he be banned from holding the office of president and from holding any public office in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reported Public Service Radio- Republika Srpska television.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment on September 11 against Dodik and the acting director of the Official Gazette of the RS, Miloš Lukić, who are charged with the criminal offense of failure to execute the decisions of the High Representative in BiH.
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The indictment followed after the National Assembly of the RS adopted two disputed laws on June 27, which Dodik signed according to the regular legislative procedure and were published in the Official Gazette of the RS.
These are laws that state that the decisions of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR) will no longer be published in this publication, and thus will not be respected in that Bosnia and Herzegovina. entity, as well as that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina will no longer apply in the RS.
The High Representative of the international community in BiH, Kristijan Šmit, annulled in July the anti-Dayton laws adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska entity in connection with the non-publication of the decisions of the High Representative and the non-implementation of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH.
RS Radio-television reports that the Prosecutor's Office of BiH stated in the indictment that, by signing the Decree on the Promulgation of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations in the Republic of Srpska, Dodik knowingly violated the decision of the High Representative, even though he was aware that those decisions in BiH binding in accordance with the powers granted to it by Annex 10 of the Dayton Agreement.
According to the indictment, Dodik's "goal was that the decisions of the high representative were not applied and implemented, because the application of those decisions required refraining from further legislative action".
The same source states that the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina proposed a measure prohibiting Lukić from holding the position of director in the Official Gazette for the next ten years, as well as a ban from holding any public office.
Milorad Dodik, President of the RS, Željka Cvijanović, member of the Presidency of BiH, Prime Minister of the RS Radovan Višković, President of the National Assembly of the RS Nenad Stevandić and Entity Minister of Justice Miloš Bukejlović are under US sanctions due to threats to the Dayton Peace Agreement.
The indictment was confirmed after revision
Dodik and Lukić are the first persons to be indicted for non-implementation of the High Representative's decisions, following the amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina imposed by Šmit on July 1.
The indictment against Dodik and Lukić was filed on August 11 and sent to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.
It was returned to the State Prosecutor's Office on August 18 for arrangement and amendment, which sent the amended indictment to the Court on August 24, which was finally confirmed on September 11.
On September 12, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina told Radio Free Europe (RSE) that after the indictment has been confirmed, both parties can file an objection. The deadline for this is 15 days.
After that, they plead guilty.
On the same day, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina told RSE that the amended indictment will be published in the next two days.
In the meantime, Dodik announced that he will respond to the invitation of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik disputes the indictment
At a press conference in Banja Luka on September 13, Milorad Dodik repeated that the RS "rejects the indictment that was confirmed against him and the acting director of the Official Gazette, Miloš Lukić", judging them as "politically motivated".
"We asked the Constitutional Court of Republika Srpska to make a statement about the law imposed by the high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We also concluded that it is useless, politically harmful and unnecessary to hold meetings with the embassies of the USA, Great Britain, Christian Schmidt and representatives of the OHR -a", said Dodik.
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