Pro-Russia Bosnian Serb President Dodik sentenced for separatist actions
Milorad Dodik states he will reject any conviction following his repeated appeals for the Serb-administered region of Bosnia to unite with Serbia.
A court in Bosnia has sentenced the pro-Russia Bosnian Serb president, Milorad Dodik, to one year in prison and banned him from politics for six years over his separatist actions as tensions mount in the fragile Balkan state.
Wednesday’s landmark ruling in Sarajevo came after a year-long trial on charges that Dodik disobeyed the top international envoy overseeing peace in the country. The judgment becomes final after the expected appeal process.
Dodik and his lawyers weren’t in court during the sentencing. He has said he would disobey any conviction and threatened “radical measures” in response, including eventual secession of the Serb-run entity in Bosnia called Republika Srpska from the rest of the country.
Dodik has repeatedly called for the separation of the Serb-run half of Bosnia to join neighbouring Serbia, which prompted the Biden administration to impose sanctions against him and his close allies. Dodik was also accused of corruption and pro-Russia policies.
Dodik’s separatist threats have stoked fears in Bosnia, where a 1992-95 war erupted when the country’s Serbs rebelled against independence from the former Yugoslavia and moved to form a mini-state with the aim of uniting it with Serbia. About 100,000 people were killed and millions were displaced.
The US-sponsored Dayton Accords ended the war and created two regions, Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation, which were given wide autonomy but kept some joint institutions, including the army, top judiciary and tax administration. Bosnia also has a rotating three-member presidency made up of Bosniak, Serb and Croat members.
Dodik has repeatedly clashed with the top international envoy overseeing the peace, Christian Schmidt, and declared his decisions illegal in Republika Srpska. The Dayton peace agreement envisages that the high representative can impose decisions and change laws in the country.
Bosniak official Camil Durakovic said the verdict against Dodik showed that “no individual is above the state and that everyone will be held accountable for their actions”.
Dodik, a supporter of Donald Trump, spoke on Wednesday to thousands gathered in the Bosnian Serb administrative capital, Banja Luka.
“They say I am guilty, but now people here will say why I am not guilty,” Dodik told the crowd after the verdict was announced. “There is no reason to worry. I have learned to deal with tougher situations.”
In Serbia, its populist president, Aleksandar Vučić, called an urgent session of the national security council, then flew to Banja Luka to support Dodik. He described the verdict as “shameful, unlawful, antidemocratic and designed to break down Republika Srpska and the position of the Serb people”.
Dodik is unlikely to be sent to prison for now because he enjoys the full support of Vučić, who can provide him shelter in Belgrade.
Dodik told the crowd he spoke by phone with Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, whom he called a friend.
“The political witch-hunt against President @MiloradDodik is a sad example of the weaponization of the legal system aimed at a democratically elected leader,” Orban said on X. “If we want to safeguard stability in the Western Balkans, this is not the way forward!”
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