Following the dismissal of Milorad Dodik, the political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina intensifies
Sentenced on August 6 by the Sarajevo Court of Appeal to one year in prison and stripped of his mandate as president of the Republika Srpska, the strongman of the Bosnian Serb entity will avoid prison and continue to defy Bosnian justice.
“I remain faithful to the mandate my people have entrusted to me.” Milorad Dodik remains firm in his position. And clearly has no intention of relinquishing his position. On August 6, the electoral commission formally removed the 66-year-old politician from his post as president of the Serb entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska. A logical decision: a few days earlier, the Sarajevo Court of Appeal had upheld his sentence of one year in prison and six years of ineligibility, a sentence handed down at first instance earlier in the year .
Despite this judgment, Dodik avoids imprisonment . “He will pay 36,500 convertible marks (DM) [18,000 euros] to avoid going to prison,” is the headline in Avaz on Wednesday , August 13. The Sarajevo daily explains that under Bosnian law, anyone sentenced to less than a year in prison can buy it back for 100 DM (50 euros) per day. But the president of Republika Srpska remains ineligible for six years.
This political twist is part of a standoff Dodik entered into in 2023 with the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (HR), the German Christian Schmidt. At the time, the President of the Republika Srp
Courrier International
