Bosnia’s Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has been sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to step down as president of the country’s Serb-dominated region for six years after defying orders from an international peace envoy. The verdict, which was given by a Bosnia court on Wednesday, has sparked concerns about ethnic stability in the country.
Dodik, who has close ties with Russia, had previously signed laws that suspended rulings by the constitutional court and by international peace envoy Christian Schmidt. He will likely avoid jail time because Bosnians can pay a fine instead of incarceration if the sentence is no more than one year.
The sentencing marks another low point in Bosnia, which suffered a bloody ethnic conflict in the 1990s. The country has since been split into two autonomous regions: Dodik’s Serb Republic and the Federation shared by Croats and Bosniaks. Critics say Dodik has been a destabilising force who has fuelled ethnic and political tensions that tore Yugoslavia apart.
The verdict has also sparked condemnation from Russia, which called it “unacceptable”. Bosnia’s 1992-95 war killed about 100,000 people, and under the U.S.-backed Dayton Peace Agreement, power was given to the two autonomous regions. The original indictment came after Dodik signed laws that Schmidt had revoked saying they defied Bosnia’s constitution and the terms of the peace deal.
Dodik has allies in Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who have defended him against the verdict. However, the sentencing may trigger a crisis in Bosnia and threaten ethnic stability.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/bosnian-serb-leader-ups-separatist-threats-ahead-court-verdict-2025-02-26