Sarajevo, Nov 4, 2025 (AFP)
Bosnia's top court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, upholding his ban from office for defying the decisions of the international envoy overseeing the country's peace deal.
The decision by the Constitutional Court was Dodik's last legal recourse before the country's judiciary, after the State Court in Sarajevo found him guilty of refusing to comply with rulings from the High Representative, Christian Schmidt.
Schmidt, a German diplomat, is responsible for safeguarding the 1995 peace accords, which ended Bosnia's bloody 1992-1995 war.
Dodik was sentenced in February to one year in prison and banned for six years from serving as president of the Republika Srpska (RS), the Serb-run entity within Bosnia, or holding any public office.
In July 2023, Dodik pushed through legislation in the RS parliament banning the enforcement of all decisions issued by the international envoy within the Serb entity.
In response, Schmidt used his executive powers to amend Bosnia's criminal code, introducing a new offence for failing to comply with his own rulings -- the charge under which Dodik was convicted.
In their Constitutional Court appeal, Dodik's lawyers argued that Schmidt had no authority to intervene in the criminal code, saying only the national parliament was empowered to do so.
But the Constitutional Court on Tuesday ruled that Dodik's claims challenging Schmidt's status and authority were "unfounded".
"The appellant's right to a fair trial was not violated in the criminal proceedings against him," it said in a statement.
- 'Political ruling' -
Dodik labelled the ruling "political" and stressed he had no trust in Bosnia's central institutions.
Dodik added that he was "neither disappointed nor really upset" by the ruling, quoted by the Bosnian Serb RTRS television.
His lawyer confirmed previous announcements that they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Analysts believe that even Dodik expected his appeal to be rejected.
"A reversal would have created chaos, particularly regarding the role of the High Representative in Bosnia," political analyst Adnan Huskic of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom told AFP.
Elections to replace Dodik, who converted his prison sentence into a fine of around 19,000 euros ($21,800), are scheduled for November 23.
One of his close allies, Ana Trisic Babic, has assumed the post of acting RS president.
Whether Dodik can remain at the helm of his nationalist SNSD party will be key for the longtime Bosnian Serb leader, since removing him from it would be the final blow to his political power, Huskic said.
Earlier Tuesday, prosecutors announced that they had dropped an investigation into Dodik over a since-repealed law banning the Bosnian federal police and judiciary from Bosnian Serb territory.
In late October, the United States lifted the sanctions it had imposed on Dodik in 2017 for his secessionist policies and obstruction of the peace accord.
Sanctions were also lifted on several other senior Bosnian Serb officials, Dodik's children and companies linked to his family.

Sumber : AFP