The Appellate Division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has upheld the first-instance verdict against the President of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, sentencing him to one year in prison and six years of disqualification from holding public office. Dodik was convicted for failing to comply with the decisions of the High Representative, Christian Schmidt.

The first-instance verdict against Dodik was issued on February 26 this year.

The BiH Court has not yet officially announced the second-instance ruling against the RS president.

The written judgment was delivered today to the parties involved in the case.

Following his initial conviction in February, the RS parliament adopted laws prohibiting the involvement of BiH’s federal police and prosecutors on the territory of the Serb entity.

BGNES recalls that Dodik is the closest ally of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s regime. The RS president, along with members of his inner circle, is subject to U.S. sanctions.

On February 26, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Dodik, in a first-instance decision, to one year in prison and six years of disqualification from office for disobeying the orders of the international community’s representative in BiH, Christian Schmidt.

The EU and NATO are frequent targets of criticism from Dodik, who at the same time advocates close ties with BRICS and is a regular guest of Vladimir Putin in Moscow. On the occasion of Saint Sava Day, while in the Macedonian capital Skopje, Dodik stated that “Macedonia is an example of the EU's lack of principles.”

In June 2024, Dodik, leading a delegation from RS, took part in the so-called Pan-Serbian Assembly, which adopted a declaration endorsing the hegemonic goals of the “Serbian World” doctrine, whose chief ideologue is U.S.-sanctioned Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin.

The RS president is also known for denying the genocide in Srebrenica, which was recognized as a war crime by the United Nations General Assembly. In the summer of 1995, Bosnian Serb forces under the command of Gen. Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić killed over 9,000 Bosniak civilians. | BGNES