The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed that it has received from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina an amended indictment against the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik and Acting Director of the Official Gazette Miloš Lukić. President Milorad Dodik’s lawyer requested the disqualification of judge Jasmina Ćosić Dedović.
The amended indictment against Dodik and Lukić is again in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before deciding whether the indictment will be confirmed or dismissed, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina must rule on the defense’s request to disqualify the judge.
“On August 24, 2023, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina received the amended indictment against the suspects Milorad Dodik and Miloš Lukić. However, no decision can be made on it until the request for exemption is decided. The decision on the request for exemption, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Criminal Procedure, is made by the General Session of the Court.
And the lawyer of the president of the Republika Srpska requested the disqualification of the judge of the Court of BiH, Jasmina Ćosić Dedović, because three years ago, as a member of the Presidency of BiH, Dodik opposed her appointment to the position of judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Attorney Bubić refers to the Law on Criminal Procedure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which states that, if there is reasonable doubt about the judge’s impartiality, the judge’s disqualification can be requested.
“President Dodik opposed the appointment. Judge Dedović was not elected to that position because of the president’s position in the formal appointment procedure. We believe that any person, not only Judge Dedović, cannot be impartial in such a situation.”, Bubic said.
“I think that the law is not important here and that there is a great desire of the international community to maintain the story of Christian Schmidt and to keep that story going for as long as possible, in order for a political moment, which I am convinced will not happen, for him to be enthroned as far as they would like, says Ognjen Tadic, adviser to the President of RS.
For Dodik, as he says, the indictment was drawn up hastily, which was confirmed by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina when it was sent back to the Prosecutor’s Office for revision. For this reason, he filed a criminal complaint against prosecutor Nedim Ćosić a few days ago.
“Everything says it’s a strong package. Do not be surprised if the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina transfers it to Banjaluka, as in the previous case, so that they can say that Dodik set it up and got away with it. I’m not going to get away with it, let you decide.”, Dodik added.
“Classic political persecution and nothing more than a fight against political dissidents, those who dared to say that domestic institutions are the ones who make laws.”
We did not receive an answer from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina as to how this time qualified the criminal offense charged against Dodik and Lukić. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina returned the indictment to the Prosecutor’s Office four days ago, because, as stated, it was not specified which criminal offense was committed and what the cause-and-effect relationship is between what Dodik and Lukić are charged with, Zeljka Cvijanovic, member of BiH Presidency, said.
