The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued an order to issue an international arrest warrant for the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and the Speaker of the National Assembly of that entity, Nenad Stevandić.
"Issuing an arrest warrant is the responsibility of the National Central Bureau of Interpol," the Court of BiH confirmed to Radio Free Europe on March 27.
The court stated that the issuance of the international arrest warrant on March 26 was requested by the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which charges Dodik and Stevandić, as well as the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska (RS) Radovan Višković "and other persons" with attacking the constitutional order of BiH.
As the basis for issuing the arrest warrant, the BiH Prosecutor's Office stated that Dodik and Stevandić, "using their high-ranking positions in the Republika Srpska entity, avoided the legally prescribed border control procedures, crossed the state border and left Bosnia and Herzegovina."
The Court of BiH stated that the suspect Dodik is currently in Israel, and that the suspect Stevandić, avoiding the legally prescribed controls, even returned to BiH on March 18, 2025 [from Serbia].
"Everything points to the likelihood that Dodik and Stevandić could be abroad at any moment," the Court of BiH stated.
Dodik, Višković and Stevandić are suspected of attacking the constitutional order, and a central arrest warrant has been issued for them within Bosnia and Herzegovina, as confirmed to Radio Free Europe on March 17. Each of the 16 police agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to arrest them.
Where is Dodik?
Milorad Dodik, the president of the Republika Srpska entity, is in Israel, where he will participate in a conference on anti-Semitism in Jerusalem on Wednesday, March 26th and Thursday, March 27th, while a warrant has been issued for his arrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik previously arrived in Israel on Tuesday on a RS government plane from Belgrade.
The day before, under still unclear circumstances, he crossed the border between Bosnia and Serbia, when he went to Batajnica, near Belgrade, to mark the anniversary of the NATO bombing.
The BiH Border Police announced that they are conducting an investigation into Dodik's crossing of the state border, and that there are no border gates at the international border crossing of Rača between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
What preceded the request for detention?
The request to detain the highest RS officials comes during a turbulent period that followed Dodik's first-instance conviction before the Court of BiH on February 26 to one year in prison and a six-year ban on holding public office for disrespecting the High Representative's decisions.
The day after the verdict, the RS National Assembly adopted unconstitutional laws that attempted to ban the work of the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council in that entity.
On March 7, the Constitutional Court of BiH issued a temporary measure and stopped the implementation of the laws passed by the entity parliament.
Thereafter, the RS authorities continued their unconstitutional activities, including considering a new entity Constitution at the parliamentary session on March 12, which provides for RS to be a "state", the establishment of an entity army, and the abolition of the RS Council of Peoples.
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