Milorad Dodik sentenced to a year in prison, Vucic supports him, but “Serbia must look to the future”

Milorad Dodik, the president of a small Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity, was sentenced to a year in prison and a six-year ban on holding public office in a first-instance ruling.

“The Court sentenced the defendant Milorad Dodik to one (1) year in prison and the precautionary measure of banning him from holding the office of the President of the Republika Srpska for six (6) years from the entry into force of the judgement,” the BiH Court said.

Dodik was convicted of committing the offence of failure to implement the decisions of a High Representative. The BiH defence and prosecution have the right to appeal against this decision.

Dodik: I won’t even appeal if we decide …

Dodik, because in his response he claimed that he had done everything in accordance with the Constitution and the law and that he was not guilty.

“Yesterday I knew I would be convicted, but now I find the word guilty terrible. I am not guilty of anything and I know how to move forward”, Dodik said in Banjaluka at a large rally in support of the protection and defence of Republika Srpska and its institutions.

Dodik announced that the Republika Srpska National Assembly will adopt important decisions and laws, including on the suspension of the proceedings against him in the BiH Court, and then laws on the prohibition of the work of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office and the BiH Court and the implementation of its decisions on the territory of Republika Srpska.

“The third one is on the prohibition of the functioning of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, as well as on the creation of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Republika Srpska. We will adopt a law on the prohibition of the operation of the BiH Investigation and Protection Agency (SiPA) on the territory of Republika Srpska,” Dodik said.

He added that a law will also be adopted on the prohibition of the Intelligence and Security Agency (IBSA) of BiH from operating on the territory of Republika Srpska.

Dodik said that not everyone from the RS will stop working in BiH’s joint institutions, that they are not so stupid as to abandon decision-making.

Dodik accused the members of the opposition of agreeing to a game in which everyone from the SNSD and the coalition partners should be quickly excluded and brought in and told, “We decide here.”

He concluded that they had agreed to this out of hatred for him and that they had become the main asset of the Bosniaks in Sarajevo.

If we decide that the decision of the BiH court in Republika Srpska is not valid, I will not even appeal, he said.

In a subsequent post, the convicted president of a small Bosnian entity, the RS, compared his case to the detention of the Romanian right-wing pro-Russian presidential candidate Calin Georgescu.

“The arrest of Calin Georgescu in Romania and my sentence in BiH are part of the same campaign to protect the law by globalists desperate for power by silencing the opposition and rigging elections.

The reaction of the neighbouring country of Serbia and Vucic

Before the Serbian tabloids close to the regime made dramatic headlines and then called an emergency meeting of the Serbian National Security Council, chaired by Aleksandar Vucic, after the Dodik verdict, the Serbian President addressed the citizens of Serbia via his Instagram account, telling them that he was staying in eastern Serbia from Friday to Sunday to “hear what is bothering the people, what they are hoping for and what they are expecting”, and “what we can do together in the future.”[5] The Serbian President, in an interview with the Serbian media, said that he would be staying in the country from Friday to Sunday to “hear what is bothering the people, what they are hoping for, what they expect” and “what we can do together in the future.

After a meeting of the Serbian National Security Council, from a plane on the way to Banja Luka, he said that the Dodik verdict was “shameful” and aimed at destroying the RS and the Serbian people, while expressing regret that “they recently enjoyed a joint celebration of the Serbian national holiday Sretenje in Banja Luka”. But our life and work, he added, is such that Serbia will always stand by the RS, and that is why we are supporting the Serbian people tonight and that we will influence all the decisions that will be taken to calm the situation, to calm the tensions, and “that we as a nation will be able to preserve our living space, that both the RS and its President will be defended, and that Serbia will be defended”. We are facing sanctions against the NIS and there are attempts at the dirtiest coloured revolution in Serbia.”

As Vucic was on his way to Banja Luka, the conclusions of the meeting of the Serbian National Security Council were read out by the Minister of the Interior, Ivica Dacic.

He said that Vucic had briefed them on the current situation in the RS and presented them with seven decisions, which they adopted unanimously.

“The first is to condemn the verdict – that it is undemocratic, uncivilised and illegal. The second is a call to calm the reaction. The third – a call for respect for Dayton, an end to the further collapse of the system set up by Dayton, which is the system that stopped the war,” Dacic said and continued:

“Call for an end to foreign interference. A call for unity on all sides, both in the RS and in Serbia.”

He said there were several conclusions.

“Great concern is expressed. This is the biggest crisis since the end of the war, it is the result of a general attack on the RS by Sarajevo and some Western forces with the aim of its disappearance, which are of course directed against the vital interests of Serbia,” Dačić said.

Reactions from Croatia

Packaged in a different context than Serbia, it could be said that the reactions of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković also contain a dose of caution, but also of sadness at the Dodik verdict.

Plenkovic reacted by saying that the conviction of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik was a first instance conviction, not a final one, and that “the ball should be dropped”.

“Legally speaking, this is not a final judgment, number one.” “So it is something that is not final and the question is what will happen if it goes to a higher court,” Plenkovic told reporters when asked what today’s ruling will mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Plenkovic said that now “we need to calm down a little bit and see how to move forward”, adding that the ruling does not directly threaten Dodik or the functioning of BiH, as a second-instance procedure is likely to follow.

Russian ministry: verdict will have catastrophic consequences for BiH and the region

“We warn foreign participants in the post-conflict settlement process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, countries in the region and the entire global community: if a guilty verdict is reached, catastrophic consequences for the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans as a whole are inevitable,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, according to media reports from Sarajevo.

They added that “the charges against the legitimately elected President of Republika Srpska, and indeed the entire Serbian nation, are based on the provisions of a pseudo-law arbitrarily imposed on sovereign BiH by the self-appointed High Representative Christian Schmidt, apparently outside the legal framework”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the conviction by a Bosnian court of Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik “will have catastrophic consequences for the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the entire region”.

EUFOR Commander: Peace in BiH is not under threat

EUFOR BiH Commander Florian-Marian Barbu stated that there is no threat to peace in our country following the first instance verdict against RS President Milorad Dodik.

After a meeting with the BiH Defence Minister Zukan Helez, the senior officer in charge of EUFOR in BiH, Zukan Helez, said that “EUFOR is closely monitoring the situation in BiH and there are no signs or concrete actions that would endanger the peace in the country.”

He added that EUFOR has sufficient troops deployed in BiH, including a reserve force ready for rapid action.

“Our presence ensures stability and security throughout BiH,” Barbu said.

Cairns: International community to support BiH institutions

Alicia Cairns, Chair of the British Parliament’s All-Party Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke on Platform X following the condemnation of RS President Milorad Dodik.

“Milorad Dodik, the secessionist leader of the RS, has been found guilty by a BiH court of violating decisions of the Office of the High Representative.

Dodik consistently denied and glorified genocide, tried to weaken the Bosnian state and threatened to secede from it, risking renewed violence and war.

He has been under UK sanctions since 2022. “Now is the time for the international community to fully support the rule of law in BiH and the implementation of the one-year prison sentence and six-year ban from holding public office,” said Cairns.

Orban: A political witch-hunt

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban took to the social network X to express his support for the convicted Dodik.

Orban said that there is a political witch-hunt against the President of the Republic of Serbia.

“Milorad Dodik is a sad example of the abuse of the legal system to attack a democratically elected leader. If we want to preserve stability in the Balkans, this is not the way forward”, Orban said./The Geopost/