Thewesternbalkans
The session of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, on December 6, in the case against Milorad Dodik for non-implementation of the decisions of the High Representative (HR) for BiH Christian Schmidt was postponed for procedural reasons. Dodik’s defense requested that the case be conducted in Banja Luka, the capital of the Serb entity in BiH.
The President of the Republika Srpska (RS) and chairman of the largest party of the Bosnian Serbs, the Union of Free Social Democrats, Milorad Dodik, is accused of signing decrees for non-implementation of the decisions of the High Representative and the Constitutional Court of BiH. These laws, passed in the parliament of the Serbian entity, were annulled by Schmidt on July 1 of this year. In addition, taking advantage of the Bonn powers, Schmidt introduced amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, which qualify non-implementation of the High Representative’s decisions as a crime.
Now Dodik faces up to five years in prison and a ban on participating in politics if convicted, as the international envoy has the authority to strip political leaders of their power.
This unprecedented case is a watershed moment and one of the most specific processes in BiH justice since its creation in 1992. For the first time, a politician is tried in BiH for non-implementation of HR decisions.
In a tug-of-war of sorts between the RS and the international community, Banja Luka responded with a bill that would grant immunity to its own officials and make it impossible to hold them accountable for their actions within the scope of their responsibilities. Among those who will receive immunity are the president and the vice presidents, the deputies in the parliament, the members of the government. They shall bear neither criminal nor civil liability for passing laws or signing decrees. In order to protect Dodik, this law, which draft will be presented to the entity’s parliament on December 12, must be retroactive. Moreover, it cannot be above the laws and constitution of the federation, which most likely will declare it null and void. This law is also a classic opportunity to introduce corruption into legal frameworks.
Whatever the outcome of the trial against Dodik, he will use it to his own advantage. If he is convicted and removed from his post, he will activate the movement for the independence of the RS. If the state court rules in Dodik’s favor, he will feel empowered to bash the state legal institutions and to destabilize the constitutional order in BiH.
Former basketball player Dodik knows perfectly how to tap the ball in place in the envisaged slow and gradual secession of RS from BiH. Dodik’s small victories must be seen through the prism of the big geopolitical game – he is not the only one who considers the current High representative to be illegitimate. Russia and China do not recognize the legitimacy of Christian Schmidtbecause he was elected without a relevant UN resolution and without broad consensus in the Peace Implementation Council. Dodik has already been sanctioned by the US and Great Britain for obstructing the Dayton Agreements and undermining the territorial integrity of BiH.
The battle for BiH could become the next proxy conflict on the international arena.
