Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik arrived at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to deliver his closing arguments in the case against him and the acting director of the RS Official Gazette, Miloš Lukić, for disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative Christian Schmidt.
Numerous supporters of Milorad Dodik gathered in front of the BiH Court building, welcoming him with applause and shouts of “Mile, Mile!”.
A large number of police officers and members of the special police were also present.
The defense attorney for the President of RS, Goran Bubić, stated earlier that the defense’s closing arguments in the case against Dodik would be based on a detailed analysis of the arguments.
The evidentiary proceedings in this case concluded on February 5, with Dodik’s testimony. He said that he was responsible for respecting the Constitution of Republika Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that the RS Constitution is in line with the Constitution of BiH. He also said that high-ranking representatives who were legally elected had never directly made decisions, as Schmidt did, which, Dodik said, was illegal.
Senior RS officials have said that if a conviction is issued, they will respond with radical measures.
At the session of the Collegium of the RS National Assembly last night, the RS Government’s proposal to hold a permanent session of the RS National Assembly was accepted. It was decided that the RS National Assembly session would be convened by telephone within 24 hours of the RS Government submitting the materials.
The trial began on October 16, 2023.
As a reminder, the Republika Srpska National Assembly adopted laws regarding the non-publication of decisions of the High Representative and the non-implementation of decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, and Schmidt then made a decision to annul them.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH charges Milorad Dodik and Miloš Lukić with taking actions from 1 to 9 July 2023 in Banja Luka, aware and knowing that the High Representative had issued a decision preventing the entry into force of the Law on Non-Application of Decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH from 1 July of the same year, as well as the decision preventing the entry into force of the Law on Amendments to the Law on Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of the RS, with the aim of continuing the legislative procedure, without applying and not implementing the decisions of the High Representative.
Photo: N1/archive
