Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik was formally charged on Monday with disobeying the authority of a high-ranking international representative to enforce the peace agreement, a crime punishable by six months to five years in prison. prison, reports AFP.

“I can confirm that the indictment against the President of the Republika Srpska (RS) Milorad Dodik has been confirmed,” a representative of the press service of the State Court of Bosnia told AFP.

Milorad Dodik, 64, close to the Kremlin and under sanctions from Washington and London for his recent separatist threats, will appear in court for the first time for his political actions.

On August 11, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia indicted him (a measure approved on Monday by the State Court) for “failing to implement” the decisions of the High Representative, now a German diplomat, Christian Schmidt. The holder of this post, created by the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, has the discretionary power to repeal or impose laws and fire elected officials.

In June, Dodik called on the parliament of the Serbian entity to adopt two laws prohibiting the execution of the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and the International High Representative in the RS. Despite their immediate cancellation by the High Representative, these two laws were promulgated by the President of the Serbian entity.

Dodik’s trial will be a major test of Bosnia’s central judiciary and its ability to handle such a case at a time when it is itself being challenged by the Bosnian Serb leader.

“Milorad Dodik can go to court (participate in the process, no), but you will not put Milorad Dodik in prison, even if you convict him,” he warned in a TV interview on September 5.

After the indictment was announced in August, he denounced “political persecution” he said was orchestrated by the US ambassador to Bosnia, whom he accused of being “Serbophobic”. The embassy replied that these are “ridiculous” and “absurd” accusations.

“Just a tourist”

Instead of punishing Dodik himself, Christian Schmidt decided to amend Bosnia’s criminal code so that local justice could prosecute politicians who oppose his decisions and those of the Constitutional Court.

Milorad Dodik has rejected the credentials of Germany’s emissary since his arrival in Bosnia in August 2021 and has regularly treated him with disdain, calling him “just a tourist” or a “fake high representative”.

Schmidt’s appointment to the Western-dominated Peace Implementation Council (PIC) was not approved by the UN Security Council, like his predecessors, due to reservations from Russia and China.