The President of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik said that he and the Prime Minister of RS Radovan Višković today invited the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and his deputies and the Prime Minister of the FBiH to come to Banja Luka whenever they want in order to try to find a solution to the newly emerging crisis in BiH.
"Let them come to Banja Luka to discuss the implementation of the Dayton Agreement and together contribute to understanding each other's positions and discussing a solution," Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka.
He pointed out that the RS only agrees to its position in BiH being as defined by the original Dayton Agreement and the Constitution of BiH, which did not include a state court and prosecutor's office, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), the state intelligence service, or the Armed Forces of BiH.
"We can negotiate with the Federation of BiH about this, and if they don't want to, we will do it independently, we have enough resources to defend our decisions," Dodik pointed out, emphasizing that the RS has no claims against the Federation of BiH.
He further said that the RS is not against the European path of BiH, but it is, as he said, against the misuse of that path.
"One of these abuses is the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, because these institutions are not in the Constitution of BiH," Dodik said at a press conference in Banja Luka.
He called the state court and the prosecutor's office "a legal racket that only created problems, which is why this issue now needs to be resolved."
He stated that the RS will no longer respect the decisions of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) and that the RS parliament will form an entity HJPC.
"We will invite Serbs from RS who are in the HJPC BiH to transfer to the HJPC RS. Those who want to stay there should move to Sarajevo," said Dodik.
He added that the RS leadership has begun talks with many actors outside BiH and that everyone they spoke to believes that the BiH Court's verdict against him is "political persecution and the Republika Srpska process personalized through the persecution of the RS President."
He thanked Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) for today's visit to Banja Luka, emphasizing the importance of the SPC, which, as he stated, understands and supports peace, conversation and dialogue.
Yesterday, the Court of First Instance of BiH sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and banned him from holding the office of President of the Republika Srpska for six years for failing to implement decisions of the High Representative of the International Community in BiH, Kristian Schmidt.
The second defendant, Miloš Lukić, acting director of the Official Gazette, was acquitted of the charges.
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Cvijanović: The verdict against Dodik was written a long time ago
The Chairperson of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Željka Cvijanović, stated today in Banja Luka that the verdict of the Court of BiH against Dodik was written a long time ago and that there were many abuses in the court process itself.
"We have prepared several pieces of information regarding this verdict that we will send to many addresses, and they concern the abuse of the position of the High Representative. The trial was not conducted in accordance with the law, there are major abuses in BiH, and I will send precise information tomorrow," Cvijanović said at a press conference.
She pointed out that tomorrow many countries will receive information about abuses in the defense system in BiH.
Cvijanović added that she has not yet "seen any serious country" that has welcomed the verdict against Dodik.
According to her, the verdict is politically motivated, and its goal is to deny Dodik the right to political activity.
The Chairperson of the Presidency of BiH stressed that all moves by the RS authorities are aimed at "establishing peace and order in BiH", inviting other political actors in BiH to talk and dialogue.
Cvijanović harshly criticized the European Union (EU), stating that she cannot understand that the EU "finances a monster like the Office of the High Representative (OHR)", and that she cannot accept that the EU can accept that "some unelected foreigner changes the law and that it becomes the property of judicial institutions".
"This is a great shame for the EU," she said.
She added that she was pleased that yesterday she had the opportunity to talk to people who do serious work within the American authorities and who are interested in determining how the funds of the Agency for International Development (USAID) were misused in BiH.
Portal: Security beefed up for judge who sentenced Dodik
Security measures have been raised to the highest possible level for Judge Sena Uzunović of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), who on Wednesday handed down a first-instance conviction against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik for failing to implement decisions by High Representative Christian Schmidt, the Sarajevo-based portal Raport reported.
According to information from that portal, Sena Uzunović and her family are being guarded by at least five police officers from the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH.
Police protection for Uzunović, as stated in the text, was granted several months ago, and was reinforced before Dodik's verdict was pronounced.
The report stated that the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH is working to identify two individuals from the Banja Luka area who, the day before the verdict, threatened Uzunović on social media, posting a video from a car.
New threats to Sena Uzunović arrived yesterday, after the verdict was announced, according to the Raport portal.
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