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The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has requested that international arrest warrants be issued, through INTEPOL, for the President of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, and the Speaker of the People's Assembly of this Serbian entity, Nenad Stevandic.
"The issuance of the arrest warrant is within the competence of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau," the Bosnian Court confirmed to Radio Free Europe on March 27.
In an earlier response to Radio Free Europe, on another case, INTERPOL said that it does not issue arrest warrants, but "at the request of member states and after compliance checks, INTERPOL issues international notices for wanted persons known as 'red notices'."
The "Red Notice" alerts police worldwide to internationally wanted fugitives and helps bring them to justice. However, it is up to INTERPOL member countries to decide whether to arrest a person or not.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that international arrest warrants were requested on March 26 by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which charges Dodik and Stevandic, along with the Prime Minister of RS, Radovan Višković, and "other persons", with attacking the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As the basis for issuing the arrest warrants, the Bosnian Prosecutor's Office stated that Dodik and Stevandic, "taking advantage of their high positions in the Republika Srpska entity, avoiding legal border control procedures, crossed the state border and left the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina."
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has stated that Dodik is currently in Israel, while Stevandic, avoiding legal checks, returned from Serbia to Bosnia on March 18.
"All circumstances indicate that it is likely that Dodik and Stevandic are abroad at any moment," the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina said.
Dodik, Vishkovic and Stevandic are suspected of attacking the constitutional order and central arrest warrants have been issued for them within Bosnia and Herzegovina, as confirmed to REL on March 17. Every police agency, out of the 16 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, should arrest them.
Where is Milorad Dodik?
Dodik is in Israel, where he is participating in a conference on anti-Semitism in Jerusalem, while an arrest warrant has been issued for him in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Dodik had traveled to Israel on Tuesday, on the RS Government plane, departing from Belgrade.
The day before, under still unclear circumstances, he had crossed the border between Bosnia and Serbia, when he traveled to Batajnica, near Belgrade, to participate in the commemoration of the anniversary of the NATO bombing.
Bosnian border police have announced that they are conducting investigations regarding the border crossing by Dodik, emphasizing that there are no border barriers at the international border crossing point of Rača between Bosnia and Serbia.
What preceded the request for an arrest warrant?
The request for the arrest of top RS officials comes in a turbulent period that followed on February 26th Dodik was sentenced in the first instance by the Bosnian Court to one year in prison and a six-year ban on holding public office, for failing to comply with the decisions of the high international representative in Bosnia.
A day after the verdict, the RS People's Assembly adopted unconstitutional laws that attempted to halt the work of the Bosnian Court and Prosecutor's Office, the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), and the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council on the territory of the entity.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 7 imposed an interim measure and suspended the implementation of laws adopted by the entity's Parliament.
After that, the RS authorities continued with unconstitutional actions, including considering a new entity Constitution at an Assembly session on March 12, which provides for RS to be a “state”, the establishment of the entity army, and the abolition of the RS People’s Council./REL
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