The court in Sarajevo in absentia sentenced the leader of the Bosnian Serbs Milorad Dodik by the year of prison. He threatened to hold a referendum on independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina • Meduza • RIMA

The court in Sarajevo in absentia sentenced the leader of the Bosnian Serbs Milorad Dodik by the year of prison. He threatened to hold a referendum on independence from Bosnia and Herzegovina

The court in Sarajevo in absentia sentenced to one year the imprisonment of the leader of the Bosnian Serbs Milorad Dodik - the President of the Republic of Serbian, part of Bosnia and Herzegovina . The court also forbade the Dodik for six years to engage in politics,according to the Associated Press February 26.

The 65-year-old dodik was found guilty of ignoring the decisions of the Constitutional Court and the high representative of the world community Christian Schmidt, which performs the functions of the external manager in Bosnia.

For a long time, Dodik refused to obey Christian Schmidt’s decisions, who monitors the implementation of the Deyton agreements-a peace treaty that laid the end of the 1992-1995 Bosniye War, Bloomberg notes .

The trial of the dodic lasted one year. The leader of the Bosnian Serbs and his lawyers were not present at the sentence. Previously, Dodik said that he would not obey any sentence, and threatened to take “radical measures”, including separating the Republic of Serbian from the rest of the country. In January, Dodik called for a referendum on the independence of the republic if he is found guilty.

After the verdict announced, Dodik's supporters held a rally in Batha-Luke, the capital of the Republic of Serbian.

Milorad Dodik is considered an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Serbia Alexander Vucich. In recent years, Dodik has broken some connections with the central government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also achieved greater autonomy for the Republic of Serbian. The US authorities in 2022 imposed sanctions against Dodik, accusing him of corruption and creating a threat to the territorial integrity of Bosnia.
The political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina is jealous of negotiations on the country's entry into the European Union, which began in 2024, Bloomberg notes.