Milorad Dodik, former president of Republika Srpska, cannot be president of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the Sarajevo-based portal Raport was informed by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Since Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban from holding the office of President of Republika Srpska by a final verdict of the Court of BiH, published on August 1, the Court explained that "termination of official duty and termination of employment, as a legal consequence of the conviction, refer to the termination of official duty and work or employment in a legal entity, regardless of the method of financing."
This means that even if SNSD is not financed from the budget, Dodik cannot be the president of that political party.
The Court of BiH also explained that under Article 7 of the Law on Political Organizations, political organizations have the status of legal entities.
The Court stated that, under the Criminal Code of BiH, an official, among others, is considered to be a person "who, with or without compensation, performs a certain official duty based on the authorization from the law or other regulation enacted pursuant to the law."
The response of the Court of BiH, the Report assesses, shows that the Central Election Commission of BiH (CEC), as the body that supervises the work of political parties, had to take into account the legal consequences of the verdict delivered to it by the Court of BiH on August 1.
The BiH Central Election Commission, with the opposition of only one member, Suad Arnautović, certified the SNSD's participation in the early elections for the president of the RS, and the application for this was signed by the party's leader, Milorad Dodik.
The CEC BiH justified this by saying that the Basic Court in Banja Luka, as the registration court where the SNSD is registered, provided it with a document stating that Milorad Dodik is the president of that party.
DON'T MISS IT
Bonus video:
