The European Union (EU) has announced that the final verdict against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, must be respected and has called on all parties to recognize the independence and impartiality of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina which rendered it.
An EU spokesperson stated in a written statement that the Union takes note that the Court of BiH has criminally convicted Dodik in the appellate procedure.
“The verdict is binding and must be respected. The EU calls on all parties to recognize the independence and impartiality of the BiH Court and to respect and support the verdict it rendered,” the EU spokesperson stated.
The Appellate Chamber of the BiH Court confirmed the first-instance verdict against Dodik, by which he was sentenced to one year in prison and a six-year ban on holding the office of President of Republika Srpska, for not executing the decisions of the High Representative in BiH.
The Central Election Commission of BiH should revoke Dodik’s mandate within 15 days, and then call extraordinary elections for the President of Republika Srpska within three months.
Dodik said today that he does not accept the verdict, that it was “created by the European Union,” and that the Assembly of Republika Srpska will make a statement on it. That parliament previously, the day after the first-instance verdict against Dodik was pronounced, adopted laws that prohibit the operation of the BiH Court and the BiH Prosecutor’s Office in Republika Srpska.
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DODIK CONVICTED: One year in prison and a six-year ban on holding political office!
Source: N1; Photo: SRNA