The Bosnia and Herzegovina Court of Appeals upheld the imprisonment of Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik for ignoring the decisions of the International High Representative. The politician rejected the charge as politically motivated.
Dodik had appealed the sentence handed down to him in February for failing to honour the decisions of the country’s Constitutional Court and the international peace envoy. It included a one-year jail term, which according to Bosnia’s legal system can be replaced with a fine, as well as a six-year ban on political activity.
“I do not recognise the sentence. I will seek help from Russia and write a letter to the US administration,” Dodik told reporters.
Dodik’s lawyer Goran Bubic said they would appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court and seek a stay of execution pending the appeal.
The European Union, which Serbia is seeking to join, said the court ruling “must be respected”.
“The EU calls on all parties to recognise the independence and impartiality of the court and to respect and uphold its verdict,” the EU diplomatic service said, commenting on the verdict.
The situation surrounding Dodik has sparked a major political crisis in the country, which aspires to EU membership and is often described as the world’s most complex democracy.
The criminal prosecution of Milorad Dodik began after he signed a law in 2023 stating that Bosnia’s Constitutional Court verdicts and the High Representative’s judgements would not be applied in Republika Srpska, part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the BBC, Dodik pleaded not guilty and, after the verdict was announced, promoted the adoption of laws prohibiting federal police and members of the Bosnian judiciary from entering Republika Srpska. Those laws were later overturned by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court.
In February, a court in Sarajevo sentenced Dodik in absentia to one year in prison and banned him from political activity for six years. Dodik was found guilty of ignoring the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the high representative of the world community, Christian Schmidt, who serves as Bosnia’s external leader.
Dodik, who is president of Republika Srpska, is now under US and British sanctions for actions that Western governments say are aimed at separating Republika Srpska from Bosnia.