Bosnia Serb leader Dodik found guilty of defying peace envoy

by Rusmir SMAJILHODZIC

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik was found guilty Wednesday in a landmark trial for defying rulings made by an international envoy charged with overseeing the country's peace accords.

The case has been widely seen as a potential test of the Balkan nation's weak central government after the 65-year old head of the Bosnian Serb region flouted the country's peace deal.

The Sarajevo court case followed months of mounting tension.

Dodik had signed legislation that refused to recognise decisions made by Bosnia's international high representative Christian Schmidt and the constitutional court.

"The court sentenced the accused Milorad Dodik to one year of imprisonment, as well as a security measure of banning him from performing the duties of the president of Republika Srpska for six years, from the date the verdict becomes final," said a statement from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dodik immediately denounced the verdict at a rally in Banja Luka -- the capital of Republika Srpska (RS), the Bosnian Serb statelet in Bosnia.

"We must be cheerful, I am sentenced to one year for their crap and their jail," he told the crowd.

"I am guilty of nothing," he added, while lambasting Schmidt with insults.

RS's parliament was set to met later Wednesday to formulate a formal response to the verdict.

Dodik has been convicted for refusing to comply with rulings handed down by Schmidt, who oversees the 1995 Dayton accords.

- A constant critic-

Dodik, the current president of RS, pushed through two laws in 2023 previously annulled by Schmidt.

The legislation refused to recognize decisions made by the high representative and Bosnia's constitutional court in the RS.

Under the peace deal which ended Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, the country was split into two autonomous halves -- a Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb-dominated RS.

The two are connected by a weak central government, under supervision of an international high representative.

The country's intercommunal war, which claimed almost 100,000 lives, was ended by the signing of the Dayton peace agreement.

Dodik has regularly criticized Bosnia's institutions and has threatened to secede from the state.

Prosecutors had earlier called for a jail term of nearly five years and a 10-year ban on holding public office.

- 'Decisive battle' -

Dodik has the right to appeal the verdict.

Questions remain over whether Dodik will recognize the court's verdict or if Schmidt could take a harder line against the Bosnian Serb leader for failing to recognize the ruling.

The international envoy holds vast powers, including the ability to effectively fire political leaders and strip them of power.

Schmidt on Tuesday had sought to reassure the public.

"The international community remains firmly committed to peace and stability in this region. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not negotiable," said the envoy after a meeting in Sarajevo.

Dodik, 65, has repeatedly denounced the proceedings as a US-backed witch hunt aiming to "eliminate him from political life".

He has warned that if found guilty he would begin undoing reforms adopted after the war to strengthen the central state -- including targeting the army, customs, taxes and law enforcement in RS.

Dodik -- a Kremlin ally -- has held sway over RS for years and has been sanctioned by Washington in 2017 and 2022 for his separatist policies in Bosnia.

Nearly a third of Bosnia's 3.5 million people live in Republika Srpska, whose territory makes up nearly half the Balkan country.

© Agence France-Presse