Bosnian Serb Leader Removed From Office After Rejecting Jail Order

Bosnian Serb President Milorad Dodik has been removed from office by the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina after he rejected an order on Aug. 1 that he should go to jail for one year and be banned from politics for six years.

Suad Arnautovic, a member of the commission, said the decision against Dodik would take effect after the expiry of an appeals period, and that within 90 days of that period, an early election would be called in the Republika Srpska.

Dodik has repeatedly called for Republika Srpska—the Serb-run half of Bosnia and Herzegovina—to break away and join neighboring Serbia.

In February, he was handed the sentence for defying the country’s constitutional court and the country’s high representative, Christian Schmidt.

In November 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed in Ohio, bringing to an end more than three years of civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which killed 100,000 people, and creating a federal state with a Muslim Croat federation and an ethnic Serb republic.

On Aug. 1, Dodik rejected the constitutional court’s ruling and said on X that it was “a political decision” orchestrated by the country’s Muslim, or Bosniak, community in collaboration with the European Union.

On Aug. 6, he wrote on X: “Surrender and giving up do not exist. Surrender is not an option.”

He then wrote, “I swear that I will conscientiously and responsibly perform my duties, protect state secrets, defend and represent the interests of the people and citizens of the Republic of Srpska, and honorably uphold the Constitution and laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska.”

Russia, which has been an ally of both Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs in recent years, has rejected the court’s verdict.

Orban Criticizes ‘Witch-Hunts’

Hungarian President Viktor Orban wrote on X on Aug. 1: “It’s time for everyone to respect the decision of the people of Republika Srpska, who elected Milorad Dodik as their President. There is no place for legal witch-hunts in a democracy.”

The EU issued a statement on Aug. 1 saying the verdict must be respected.

Dodik’s lawyer Goran Bubic said his team would ask the constitutional court to suspend implementation of the jail sentence and the ban from political office, pending the outcome of his appeal.

Under the Dayton Accords, the Republika Srpska and the Bosniak Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina were granted wide-ranging autonomy, but the country has a single army, judiciary, and tax administration.

Bosnia and Herzegovina also has a rotating three-member presidency, made up of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats, and Bosnian Serbs.

Under the Dayton Accords, an Office of the High Representative was set up with wide-ranging powers of oversight and the right to impose legislation and remove officials.

The current high representative, Schmidt, is a former German government minister who has clashed frequently with Dodik and declared some of his decisions in the Republika Srpska to be illegal.

Dodik ordered the Bosnian Serb Parliament to ban the federal Bosnian state’s prosecutor, court, and intelligence agency.

The country’s constitutional court then temporarily suspended the regional parliament’s legislation as endangering the constitutional and legal order and sovereignty of the country.

Between 1945 and 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of Yugoslavia, but after Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, Bosnia followed suit, and a civil war broke out, with the Bosnian Serbs backed by the Serbian-dominated Yugoslav army.

During the war, the Bosnian Serbs were accused of “ethnic cleansing” against the Croat and Muslim communities, culminating in the massacre at Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in July 1995, the 30th anniversary of which was marked last month.

Reuters contributed to this report.