Republika Srpska leader Milorad Dodik vowed to defy a Bosnian court verdict sentencing him to a year in prison and banning him from holding the presidential office - a ruling condemned by Serbia, Hungary and Russia.
Azem Kurtic, February 26, 2025
President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik waves to supporters in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, February, 26, 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE/NIDAL SALJIC
At a rally of his supporters in Banja Luka, the president of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity, Milorad Dodik, vowed to defy Wednesday’s state court verdict convicting him of defying the decisions of the High Representative, the international official overseeing the country’s post-war peace agreement.
In response to the ruling, Dodik promised that the state-level court, prosecution, State Investigation and Agency, SIPA, and the State Intelligence Agency, OSA would be banned from having any jurisdiction in Republika Srpska.
Dodik described the verdict as politically motivated and driven by “racial and national hatred” against Serbs.
His condemnation was echoed by his close ally, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who condemned the verdict and described the situation as “the biggest crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the end of the war”.
After a meeting of Serbia’s national security council, Vucic flew to Banja Luka to show his support for Dodik in person.
“I am going to Banja Luka after the shameful verdict against Milorad Dodik—unlawful, anti-democratic, aimed at undermining Republika Srpska and weakening the position of the Serbian people,” Vucic said in a statement issued while he was on the plane.
Dodik’s other regional ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, also condemned the verdict.
“The political witch hunt against President Milorad Dodik is a sad example of the misuse of the judicial system against a democratically elected leader. If we want to preserve stability in the Western Balkans, this is not the right way,” Orban stated on X.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the trial of Dodik, who is politically close to Vladimir Putin, as “a parody of justice and a blatant mockery of the foundations of the rule of law”.
The Bosnian state court on Wednesday sentenced Dodik to one year in prison – plus a six-year ban on being president of Republika Srpska – for knowingly defying decisions issued legally by High Representative Christian Schmidt.
Dodik’s co-accused, the former acting director of Republika Srpska’s Official Gazette, Milos Lukic, was acquitted.
Schmidt had blocked the implementation of two laws adopted by the Republika Srpska authorities – one preventing enforcement of state-level Constitutional Court rulings in the entity, and another amending legislation on publishing official acts. Despite this, the defendants allegedly continued legislative procedures in defiance of Schmidt’s decisions.
As this was a first-instance verdict, both sides can appeal. The second-instance verdict is expected to be delivered by the end of this year.
The lead-up to the verdict raised tensions inside Bosnia, with Dodik rallying his supporters for two days in a row and warning of a serious response.
In Belgrade, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic claimed the situation was “the result of a general attack by Sarajevo and the West on Republika Srpska, aimed at redefining and eliminating it”.
Dacic called for “unity and solidarity among the entire Serb people and all political parties, both in Republika Srpska and in Serbia”.
In Zagreb, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic called for calm.
“In Bosnia and Herzegovina, political and legal solutions should be found to make the state functional and its peoples equal. The verdict against Milorad Dodik is not final, so we should calm things down,” Plenkovic said.
Meanwhile on Wednesday evening, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, the entity’s parliament, voted to adopt a statement claiming that the state court “acted contrary to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina by issuing a verdict based on a decision of the High Representative rather than a law passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.
The National Assembly stated that it “does not recognise any decisions made by the High Representative”, claiming that German politician Schmidt “lacks legitimacy as he was not appointed in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Dayton Peace Agreement”.
Republika Srpska does not recognise the legality of Schmidt’s authority as he was appointed without a UN Security Council resolution – a view also held by Russia.
Copyright BIRN 2007