Reactions are coming in to the final verdict against the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, which sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year ban on holding the office of the President of the Republika Srpska. All sentences of up to one year in prison can be replaced with a fine, which in practice should mean that Dodik can pay for his prison sentence with 36,500 BAM. Miloš Lukić was acquitted of the charges.
Hiper: The verdict must be respected
After the second-instance verdict of the Court of BiH, the EU’s Chief Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Anita Hiper.
“The European Union has taken note of the verdict in the appeal proceedings against Milorad Dodik, which was issued by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The verdict is binding and must be respected. The EU calls on all parties to respect the independence and impartiality of the Court and to respect and implement its verdict.”
British Ambassador: Dodik Verdict Should Be Respected
After the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina upheld the first-instance verdict in the case against Milorad Dodik and Miloš Lukić, the United Kingdom has said that the Court’s verdict should be fully respected and that all relevant institutions and stakeholders must uphold the rule of law.
In a statement, the United Kingdom’s Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Julian Reilly, stated that the United Kingdom is making it clear that the Court’s verdict should be fully respected.
“All relevant institutions and stakeholders should uphold the rule of law and act without delay in accordance with the verdict, as directed by the Court,”published on the x platform.
Bubić: We are going to the Constitutional Court, and we will also turn to the European Court of Human Rights
The lawyer for the President of Republika Srpska, Goran Bubić, stated that the legal team will continue the fight with all available legal means, following the second-instance verdict against the President of RS, Milorad Dodik.
“We will seek a temporary measure to stay the execution of the verdict until the Constitutional Court decides. That is our assumption that we will address the European Court of Human Rights,” Bubić said at a press conference at the Palace of the Republic in Banja Luka.
Bubić reiterated that he was informed by phone about the outcome of the trial and that the appeals of the parties in the proceedings were rejected.
Košarac: Support for the President
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the SNSD, Staša Košarac, made a statement on the “X” platform and in his status briefly and clearly showed that he supports Milorad Dodik, his party president, after the first-instance verdict against him was confirmed. He wrote briefly: Support for the President.
Novaković Bursać: Confirmation that BiH is a protectorate
By confirming the first-instance verdict against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH confirmed that this is a political body and that BiH is not a sovereign country, but a protectorate or a medieval fiefdom in which the will of individuals is implemented, and not acts passed through a democratic system, said SNSD Presidency member Snježana Novaković Bursać to Srna news agency.
Bursać said that this decision shows that the BiH judiciary is overwhelmed by influences, especially from the circles of political Sarajevo and parts of the international community, who do not mean well to BiH, the peoples, or the citizens, but only think about their own interests and goals, which are most efficiently achieved through the generation of crises.
“Republika Srpska has shown that it knows how to deal with crises successfully, and this is one of those in which we will also show the capacity to gather and the strength to protect our own competencies and interests, which we see in freedom, the right to our own way of life, and the right to democratic decisions and development,” Bursać emphasized.
