The president of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, claims again that a rigged political process is being conducted against him at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which he is being "harassed" and trying to get him out of politics.
According to the Hina agency, he cursed and insulted high representative Kristijan Šmit in front of journalists.
"Our goal is to prove that this is not a country and a democracy, but a protectorate," said Dodik, who claims that the court is now under pressure to end the process as soon as possible, so he expects the verdict to be "political" because behind everything, as he says, there are plans by the USA and Great Britain to remove him from politics and to make it difficult for him to participate in the campaign for the local elections scheduled for October 6.
He also announced that he would not accept any court decision "that would not be in accordance with the law", but he did not clarify what he meant by that.
Dodik said this after another hearing in the proceedings against him and the director of the Official Gazette of the RS, Miloš Lukić, before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on charges of disobeying the decisions of the high representative of the international community.
The defense is now presenting its witnesses, and at the hearing today, Dodik's actions were defended by the representative of his office, Jelena Pajić Baštinac. Both she and Dodik are under US sanctions for obstructing the implementation of the Dayton Agreement.
The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed the indictment against Dodik and Lukić in August 2023, and after frequent delays, their trial began in February of this year. The indictment accuses them of using their official position to enable the publication of laws passed by the parliament of Republika Srpska, even though High Representative Šmit annulled them.
Failure to implement the decisions of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison, and a conviction means the automatic removal of the convicted person if it is an appointed or elected official.
The whole strategy of Dodik's and Lukic's defense, writes Hina, is based on the claim that Šmit was not legally elected as a high representative because there was no discussion about it at the UN Security Council, so they believe that he did not even have the authority to cancel the laws passed by the entity parliament.
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