The trial of Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik, accused of rejecting the mandate of the international peace accord’s top envoy, officially began on Monday with the reading of the indictment after several adjournments in December, AFP reported.

Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska, the Serbian entity in Bosnia and HerzegovinaPhoto: – / Sputnik / Profimedia

Under US and UK sanctions over his separatist threats, the president of the Bosnian Serb entity (RS, Republika Srpska) is accused of promulgating two laws voted by the entity’s parliament in July 2023 and immediately overturned by High Representative Christian Schmidt.

These laws provide that the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and the decisions of the High Representative will no longer apply in the Serbian entity.

64-year-old Milorad Dodik faces up to five years in prison and, if found guilty, an automatic ban on political activity.

But he has already made it clear that he does not intend to recognize the verdict of the Bosnian State Court in Sarajevo, where the trial is taking place.

This is an unprecedented trial in the Balkans against a politician who ignores the decision of the High Representative.

Mr. Dodik promulgated the laws, “although he knew that the High Representative’s decisions were binding, according to the powers (…) granted to him by the peace agreement,” prosecutor Gordana Bosilcic explained during the hearing.

The Bosnian Serb leader has denied the “legitimacy” of Schmidt, a former German minister, since he took up his post in Bosnia in August 2021 because his appointment was not approved by the UN Security Council.

“This is a purely political process where some people are forced to work. This process is not conducted by a state court or the Attorney General. It is managed by someone else,” Dodik told the media after leaving the court.

This politician, who carefully cultivates relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been the head of the Russian Federation continuously since 2006, has claimed from the beginning that the purpose of this trial is to end his political career.

He also claims he is being tried for “a crime that does not exist” in Bosnia’s criminal code.

His prosecution was made possible by Schmidt’s intervention in legislation in July to make it a crime to disregard the decisions of the High Representative.