Yesterday, the pro-government media in Banja Luka publishedan alleged letter from a group of judges of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in which information is provided about the trial against the President of the Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik and Milos Lukic, acting director of the Official Gazette of the RS.
In the letter that was first published by the portal Banjaluka.net, the indictment filed against Dodik and Lukic is called “a plan of judicial persecution behind which the ambassador of the United States (U.S.) to BiH, Michael Murphy, stands.”
“The court will confirm the indictment against the President of the RS Milorad Dodik and acting director of the Official Gazette, Milos Lukic, because the order to do this was given to the President of the Court of BiH, Ranko Debevec, by Ambassador Murphy”, reads the letter, which the portal published in its entirety, without naming the authors of the letter, except for the claim that it is a “group of judges”.
Allegedly, there are minutes notes about everything, which state that “the Bosniak judge will confirm the indictment and the Serb judge will sentence Dodik and Lukic after an accelerated procedure” to unconditional prison terms with a ban on public office.
The letter also points out shortcomings, because the investigation was conducted due to the criminal offense of attacking the constitutional order, so that the legal qualification would be changed to Non-execution of the decisions of the High Representative.
Prosecutors and judges who are allegedly involved in the entire process are also discredited in various ways.
“The investigation against President Milorad Dodik and acting director Milos Lukic in the BiH Prosecutor’s Office was led by prosecutor Gordana Bosiljcic, whose brother died as a member of the Republic of BiH (RBiH) Army. After the prosecutors who had any dignity refused to write the indictment, overnight it was decided that the recently elected prosecutor Nedim Cosic, who is the son of the former chief prosecutor of the Tuzla Canton (TC) Sesenam Cosic, and who was employed in the Municipal Court without passing the bar exam, even though passing the bar exam was one of the four basic conditions for employment in that position in Sarajevo, would write the indictment,” the letter states, with the assessment that the “Murphy-Debevec plan” as the entire procedure is called, that the indictment is represented by a Serb prosecutor, has failed.
“Because the prosecutor Biljana Golijanin refused it. An additional element of persecution is visible from the fact that the indictment was received for confirmation in the work by judge Jasmina Cosic, who “became famous” in the case of the acquittal of Naser Oric. And before the Hague Tribunal, she participated in Oric‘s defense team. Namely, prosecutor Nedim and judge Jasmina Cosic are closely related”, it is also stated and concluded that the President of the Court of BiH Ranko Debevec is in a problem “because Serb judges refuse to participate in the persecution”, which is why, it is claimed, they will appoint “Bosniaks who were active in the SDA and the RBiH Army in the nineties” as judges.
The Court of BiH rejected the allegations about the existence of the plan. RTRS conveys the reaction.
“The U.S. Embassy in BiH, as well as Ambassador Michael Murphy, have never contacted the President of the Court for this or any other case. The Court of BiH has no role in indicting the suspects Milorad Dodik and Milos Lukic. In accordance with the Law on Criminal Procedure of BiH, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH formed a case and filed an indictment on which the Court, in accordance with the said Law, is obliged to decide”, they pointed out in their answer, noting that the assignment of cases to the work of judges is carried out in accordance with the prescribed procedures in which the President of the Court has no role.
The embassy of the U.S. in Sarajevo made an announcement on its Twitter profile.
“We have seen a report by Banjaluka.net that refers to an alleged letter containing false and ridiculous accusations about the ongoing court process against Milorad Dodik and Milos Lukic. It is preposterous to suggest that the U.S. Embassy is the author of the indictments or the mastermind of the conspiracy. If there is an author of the indictment against Dodik outside the State Prosecutor’s Office, as Dodik claimed, it is Dodik himself. The clear and simple fact is that Dodik’s problems are created by himself”, the embassy stated, N1 reports.
E.Dz
