Milorad Dodik is sentenced to a year in prison and barred from political activity for six years for alleged separatist actions.
Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader, was sentenced by a Bosnian court on Wednesday to a year in prison for defying the authority of the international official in charge of overseeing peace in the country. The court ruling also prohibits Dodik, who is known for criticizing NATO expansion and Western sanctions against Russia, from holding any political office for a six-year period.
Dodik, who is 65 years old and the president of Republika Srpska, which is a Serb-majority region, was found guilty of obstructing decisions made by Bosnia’s constitutional court and Christian Schmidt, the High Representative. Schmidt is a German official appointed to oversee the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995, which was brokered by the U.S. The agreement ended the civil war in the former Yugoslavia by establishing Bosnia and Herzegovina as a federation that includes the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska, and features a tripartite presidency representing Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats.
The agreement also established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to ensure compliance and prevent future conflicts. Dodik has consistently rejected Schmidt’s authority, claiming he lacks legitimacy and accusing the West of using the OHR to undermine the autonomy of Republika Srpska.
The Sarajevo court determined that Dodik acted illegally when he signed two laws that nullified the peace envoy’s decrees and suspended the enforcement of Bosnia’s highest court rulings in Republika Srpska.
Dodik was not present at Wednesday’s hearing. However, before the ruling, he warned that a conviction could be a “death blow to Bosnia and Herzegovina” and threatened to push for Republika Srpska’s secession.
Following the verdict, Dodik spoke at a rally in Banja Luka, where he dismissed the ruling as politically motivated and pledged to implement “radical measures.”
“I have been sentenced to a year in their shi**y prison. They say I am guilty, but now I will say I am not guilty,” he stated to the crowd. Reports indicate that approximately 25,000 supporters were present at the rally.
In a post on his official X account, Dodik announced that the Republika Srpska National Assembly would formally reject the court ruling and prohibit the implementation of any decisions from Bosnia’s state judiciary within its territory. He also stated that Republika Srpska would prevent Bosnia’s central government and police from operating within its jurisdiction.
Dodik has two weeks to appeal the ruling, but he has not indicated whether he intends to do so. According to legal experts cited by local media, the sentence will become final after the appeal process is concluded.
Dodik has already discussed the verdict with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, thanking them for their support in his post on X. Vucic has reportedly called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in Belgrade to discuss Dodik’s sentence and is expected to visit Republica Srpska within the next 24 hours.
Dodik is known for his criticism of NATO and his opposition to Bosnia joining the U.S.-led military alliance, which he has previously blamed for “the suffering of innocent civilians.” He has openly expressed his friendship with Russia and suggested last year that Bosnia would be better off joining BRICS rather than NATO. Dodik also opposed Western sanctions against Russia in connection with the Ukraine conflict and repeatedly pledged that Republika Srpska would continue to strengthen its cooperation with Moscow, despite pressure from the U.S. to refrain from doing so.
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