After Federal Minister of Internal Affairs Ramo Isak’s statement that the Federal Police Administration (FUP) will arrest the President of Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik if the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) orders it, fierce reactions followed from politicians from the RS, including the reaction of RS Minister of Internal Affairs Sinisa Karan.
Minister of Security of BiH Nenad Nesic stated that Milorad Dodik is a protected person secured by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS and that the Ministry, accordingly, will not allow his arrest even if the Court of BiH makes such a decision.
It is important to point out that it is the obligation of the police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS to provide immediate physical protection to the President of the RS, currently Milorad Dodik, in cases of his physical threat from criminals, but not to protect him from judicial institutions.
Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS who would embark on such an adventure would commit not only serious disciplinary violations but also serious criminal offenses that would bring them to court.
Threats by politicians from the RS that they are ready to use the entity police to avoid responsibility for crimes committed are very dangerous. Even more worrying is the silence of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS led by Minister Sinisa Karan, which does not distance itself from the evident pressures and influence of the ruling regime on the police of the smaller BiH entity.
Minister of Security Nenad Nesic’s statements are particularly worrisome if one takes into account that Nesic is the head of the ministry that includes the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), and which is headed by Darko Culum – a regular visitor to SNSD political gatherings.
If the complete context is taken into account, i.e. in the event of a possible guilty verdict against Milorad Dodik, the ruling group would try in every way through the SIPA and the Ministry of the Internal Affairs of the RS to obstruct the execution of the verdict against Milorad Dodik, a logical conclusion is that the order of the Court BiH, if it comes to it, should be carried out by the FUP.
Minister Isak’s statement that the FUP will arrest Dodik if there is such an order from the Court of BiH is based on laws. If only Minister Karan and Minister Nesic had given the same answer in the case of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS and SIPA because the orders of the Court of BiH are binding for all police agencies throughout BiH.
Article 4 of the Law on the Courts of the RS states the following: “Everyone in the RS and BiH is obliged to respect the final and enforceable court decision”.
The FUP can operate on the territory of the RS and arrest Milorad Dodik if the Court of BiH decides that the FUP is a police agency that is competent to implement the order of the Court of BiH.
In such situations, the FUP is only obliged to inform the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS that it is carrying out official activities on the territory of the RS entity.
It should be recalled that the FUP is already carrying out actions, i.e. it is acting on the territory of the RS in several cases, by order of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS only provides assistance to FUP inspectors.
Thus, in the past period, FUP inspectors interrogated witnesses in Banja Luka and undertook other official actions on the territory of the RS on the order of the state prosecution, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
