Milorad Dodik, the president of Republika Srpska (RS), has received a conclusive verdict for not adhering to the decisions made by the High Representative, as reported by Radio Free Europe.

A three-member panel, comprised of Amela Huskić, Vesna Jesenković, and Hilmo Vučinić, upheld the initial ruling from February 26, sentencing Dodik to one year in prison and enforcing a six-year prohibition on holding political office.

Both Dodik’s legal team and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina have appealed the initial ruling from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The prosecution is seeking a longer prison sentence along with a more extended ban from holding office, conversely, the defense aims to have the verdict overturned.

Dodik was convicted for signing a decree to enact a law that was previously annulled by Christian Schmidt, the High Representative in BiH.

These laws were an attempt by legislative bodies within RS to obstruct the implementation of decisions made by the Constitutional Court of BiH and the High Representative concerning this Bosnian entity.

The second defendant in this trial, Miloš Lukić, the acting director of the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, was acquitted in the initial ruling.

Following February’s verdict, the RS National Assembly passed several laws that eliminated the jurisdiction of state judicial and police institutions within RS. In mid-March, the Court of BiH issued a central arrest warrant for Dodik on charges of violating the constitutional order.

Arrest warrants were also issued for Radovan Višković, the Prime Minister of RS, and Nenad Stevandić, the Speaker of the entity parliament, based on similar allegations.

Despite the issuance of the central warrant, law enforcement agencies did not arrest them in the following months.

In early July, Dodik appeared voluntarily at the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH with his defense attorney, Goran Bubić, leading to his detention being lifted and a requirement for periodic reporting to a state authority established.

Višković and Stevandić also willingly presented themselves to the Court shortly thereafter, and their detention was similarly terminated.

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