DODIK REACTS TO VERDICT: From today, we will defend the constitution of Republika Srpska with Police and judiciary – we must be cheerful!

The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, addressed gathered citizens in Banja Luka after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued its verdict against him. He was found guilty in the first-instance ruling for failing to comply with the decision of High Representative Christian Schmidt.

“We must be cheerful,” Dodik said, adding: “They say I am guilty, but now the people here will show you why we are not guilty.”

“There is no reason for concern. I have learned to handle even more difficult matters, so we will get through this as well. What matters to me is that you are here and that you support me. That will always be important to me,” he stated.

Citizens from cities and municipalities across Republika Srpska gathered today in front of the National Assembly building in Banja Luka for a rally in support of Republika Srpska’s institutions.

They displayed slogans in support of Srpska’s institutions and President Milorad Dodik, as well as acting director of the Official Gazette, Miloš Lukić. They held banners reading: “Today Dodik, tomorrow all of us,” “The president’s conviction is an attack on Republika Srpska,” “Schmidt is a tourist,” “Srpska is our pride, the president our protector,” “Dodik’s conviction is a sentence for Bosnia.”

During the continuation of the National Assembly session, deputies debated the “Information on the Destruction of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Measures, and Tasks for Its Protection.”

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“From Today, We Will Defend the Constitution of Republika Srpska with Our Own Police and Judiciary”

Dodik declared that from today, Republika Srpska will protect and defend its constitution using its own police and judiciary.

“My political motivation has always been clear: not to allow the distorted will of the people in Sarajevo to prevail… The Muslim people are good people, but they are misled by political Islam that pushes them forward. That is why this fight is on a political level. No Muslim in Srpska should face any problems. No Serb who acts otherwise will have my support,” Dodik stated at the large public rally.

He noted that after Judge Strika withdrew from the case, “one Sena Uzunović took it upon herself to judge me.”

He alleged that Uzunović was once an aide to a brigade commander near Konjic, responsible for the killings of Serbs in Bradina.

“Those Muslims who massacred an entire Serbian village—this Sena acquitted them. But Milorad Dodik is guilty, right? How are you not ashamed?” Dodik asked.

He said his strategy was to wait, to give the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina a chance, but “it is clear they made promises to someone.”

“She (Uzunović) said she was under pressure, that she had to do this—maybe so that I would understand… But they didn’t stop there,” Dodik said, claiming that a member of Judge Uzunović’s family approached his people demanding several million for an acquittal.

Dodik stated he has evidence of this and that Uzunović’s relative was recorded.

“So, this is the justice I am supposed to accept? This is their rule of law? They bring us Schmidt to impose decisions on us,” he said, once again urging the public not to be worried.

He also revealed that the first call of support he received after the verdict was from Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, and the second from his “friend Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister.”

Finally, Dodik invited Vučić to come to Banja Luka “so that they can discuss and reach an agreement.”