Judge Sena Uzunović rejected the request of the defense of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and acting director of the “Official Gazette” Miloš Lukić to read the indictment again and call witnesses, because, as she said, it was unfounded and would lead to a delay in the proceedings before the Court of BiH.
Uzunović said in her explanation that the defense had received audio recordings of the hearings at which evidence was presented and witnesses were heard.
She said that all witnesses were heard both directly and cross-examined.
Uzunović also listed how many times the hearings had been postponed, including those due to Dodik’s surgical intervention.
“That is why the trial could not proceed at the planned pace,” she said.
Attorney Goran Bubić said that in this case there is no whole process because the Prosecution was given the opportunity to present evidence regarding Annex 10 of the Dayton Peace Agreement throughout the summer and autumn.
Bubić said that during the reading of the indictment on February 5, 2024, the curtain was lowered, which prevented the public from hearing everything, and that this was one of the arguments for the request for a re-reading of the indictment.
Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik stated during the trial at the Court of BiH that the entire proceedings against him and the acting director of the “Official Gazette of Republika Srpska” Miloš Lukić were “full of inaccuracies and that his human rights were threatened in this process”.
Dodik assessed the conclusion of the Court of BiH that the defense wanted to delay this process as tendentious, and added that he had been exposed to public persecution the entire time, “especially because the expert witness was allowed to falsely accuse and discriminate against him and to abuse him”.
“You did not even accept the medical documentation about my surgery and health condition”, Dodik said, addressing Judge Sena Uzunović.
He asked “whether perhaps someone else wants to speed up this process for political reasons”.
In the continuation of the trial, witness Siniša Karan will be heard, who in the previous hearing presented his legal expertise on the constitutional and legal system of BiH and Republika Srpska.
