Bosnia’s Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal by Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik against a verdict barring him from politics for six years. The court’s decision, made on Tuesday, confirms the ban and upholds the earlier ruling that Dodik had defied decisions made by the country’s international envoy, Christian Schmidt. Dodik, who had been stripped of his mandate as the president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic, had filed appeals against the decision, but the court ruled that both appeals were without foundation.
The court’s ruling brings into question the legality of the Serb Republic’s reshuffled government, which was initiated by Dodik after he had already been stripped of his mandate. Despite this, Dodik continued to hold office and perform presidential duties. The election commission has called an early presidential vote in the Serb Republic on November 23, and Dodik has nominated a candidate from his ruling SNSD party, to run in the election.
Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist who wants the Serb Republic to secede from Bosnia and join Serbia, has rejected the court’s ruling, calling it “politically motivated”. The Bosnian Serb leader was sentenced in February to one year in prison and banned from holding office for six years for defying Schmidt’s rulings. Dodik’s lawyers have announced plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
