SARAJEVO -- The trial of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik on charges of defying the rulings of an international peace envoy opened on February 5 in Bosnia-Herzegovina after several postponements.
The trial opened with the reading of the indictment, which accuses Dodik of failing to execute the decisions of the High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian Schmidt. If convicted, Dodik faces a sentence of six months to five years in prison and a ban on public duties.
During the hearing in Bosnia’s top court in Sarajevo, the judge twice warned supporters of Dodik not to disrupt the proceeding after they whistled and jeered when the decision was made to read the indictment. The Dodik supporters left the courtroom after the judge ordered judicial police to lower the curtain that separates the courtroom from the public viewing gallery.
As stated in the indictment, Dodik signed decrees on laws that had been annulled by Schmidt "even though he was aware that the decisions of [Schmidt] are legally binding."
The prosecution will present its evidence at the next hearing on March 6. Four inspectors of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) are scheduled to testify.
Dodik's defense has said that the evidence of the Prosecutor-General's Office "isn't based on facts" and has said Dodik’s defense will be based on "proving the sovereignty” of Bosnia.
The defense has also asked for the disqualification of Judge Sena Uzunovic, who took the case on February 5, alleging "political bias." The previous judge assigned to hear the case, Mirsad Strika, asked to be replaced due to his planned retirement in May.
Uzunovic will also hear the case against Milos Lukic, the acting director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, who is also charged with failing to execute Schmidt’s decisions. That trial is scheduled to start on February 21.
Dodik, who has close relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been charged over two laws he signed in July that allow the Bosnian Serb entity to bypass or ignore decisions made by Schmidt. One of the laws blocks the publication of decisions made by the high representative in the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, effectively meaning the entity can disregard them. The other law concerns the refusal to implement decisions by the country's Constitutional Court in the territory of the entity.
Both laws were adopted in June by the assembly of Republika Srpska in which Dodik's Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) has the majority.
Schmidt on July 1 annulled both laws and used his so-called Bonn powers to impose changes to the Criminal Code of Bosnia stipulating that an official who does not respect the decisions of the high representative can be punished with a prison sentence of six months to five years and banned from all public duties.
Bosnia has been administered under a Bosniak and Croat federation and the mostly Serb Republika Srpska implemented after the Dayton agreement, which ended the 1992-95 Bosnian War. The country is overseen by a civilian high representative with UN backing and sweeping powers. That position is currently held by Schmidt.
Bosnia was given the status of candidate for European Union membership in December 2022 but has not fulfilled the criteria necessary to start accession talks.