The American Embassy and Christian Schmidt are exerting pressure on the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and aim to secure a guilty verdict for Milorad Dodik. The immunity law is an extraordinary measure intended to prevent the Court from proceeding against the president, said Ognjen Tadić, a candidate for the Constitutional Court of BiH and an advisor to the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, in an interview for Federal TV.
Everyone has heard of the FETO organization from Turkey, and everyone knows that America does not want to extradite Turkish citizens to Turkey because it believes they will face organized political trials there. We all know that Sweden cannot join NATO due to Turkey’s blockade, as it refuses to extradite foreign citizens – Turks, Kurds – to Turkey, believing they will face organized political trials. And Bosnia and Herzegovina is expected to prosecute its citizens in a political process due to the will of a foreigner – Tadić commented on the process against Dodik.
No law enacted by someone unauthorized can be considered a law, Tadić emphasized.
He further stated that acknowledging the Criminal Code amended by Schmidt would mean going against everything he learned as a law student, practiced as a parliamentarian, or applied as a legal professional.
Based on my knowledge, experience, and dignity, I cannot say that what Schmidt wrote is an amendment to the Criminal Code – Tadić asserted.
Speaking about why he believes Dodik’s process is of a political nature, he emphasized that it is an attempt to forcibly usurp the function of the High Representative by Schmidt, who does not have the approval of the UN Security Council, adding that the PIC is entirely irrelevant in all of this.
BiH Trial
Of course, Republika Srpska and the Serb people have experienced this kind of attack on the institutions of Srpska, first and foremost, as an attack on themselves. But time has shown that, in essence, it is the trial of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina determines whether Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sovereign state or not. If it is not – the consequences are known. If it is – the consequences are also known. I assure you, concerning public opinion in Srpska, that it is ready for both options, entirely indifferent to accepting whatever is done – Tadić conveyed.
He emphasized that in Dodik’s case, the fairness of the trial in Sarajevo is endangered, so there is a demand to move it to Banja Luka.
The way the public in Sarajevo, especially international, has dealt with this case, and the way they have tried to influence the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, indicates that there will be no fair trial. Officials from the American Embassy, to my knowledge, have not come to any court in Banja Luka to determine the judicial policy. Even the court officials themselves have spoken several times about how officials from the American Embassy and OHR come to the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to inquire about cases. This is an illegal pressure on these judicial institutions, and the statements of Schmidt and American Ambassador Michael Murphy themselves indicate that they want a guilty verdict – he stated.
He also said that if elected as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it means that domestic judges have replaced foreign ones.
Representatives of the institutions of Srpska have been more than clear. Before any continuation of the work of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the replacement of foreign judges with domestic ones must be allowed – Tadić underlined.
The question of property
Regarding property, he claims that this issue has been resolved by the Dayton Peace Agreement.
I don’t know why you linger on this issue, you’re just wasting time. Things are entirely clear – Chapter Two of the Constitution of Republika Srpska dealt with the issue of property and gave authority to Bosnia and Herzegovina on this matter. By adopting the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Dayton, it ceased to be constitutional matter and no longer falls within the competencies of Bosnia and Herzegovina- it belongs exclusively to the competencies of entities. And how the entities will regulate it – that is given to them in their jurisdiction. The attempt to turn the succession agreement into a legal basis for such a thing is entirely senseless. The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina introduced confusion with its decisions. The judges who decided never read the succession agreement – he emphasized.
He also claims that Srpska does not block the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It wants to preserve it, defend it from those who want to use it to revise the Dayton Agreement, says Tadić.
Immunity Law
When asked why the immunity law is being enacted in Srpska now, he responds:
“I know that the law is in draft, I am sure it will still be amended. And why now – it is more than clear. When someone comes up with the crazy idea to tell a foreigner – go manage that country, and at the same time, there is no decision standing behind him – then you have to apply extraordinary measures and defend yourself against that. If the political public in Sarajevo did not take Schmidt seriously, Srpska would never resort to such laws. Because there would be a consensus that he is someone completely out of his mind, who should be ignored.”
He notes that if this law is applied retroactively in Dodik’s process – it means that the mistreatment, which Sarajevo justice does not know how to handle, ceases, according to him.
We want to help reduce the number of conflicts between Sarajevo and Banja Luka, and if the judge of that court says tomorrow – here we may have thought something in line with the will of the international community, but obviously, there is a law that prevents us from continuing this process, and everyone goes home. It is again a contribution to relaxing political relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, not exacerbating them – Tadić claims.
He emphasized that “there is no law that can protect anyone in the case of a conflict situation.”
We do not even want to talk about it. Those who attack Srpska and the Dayton Peace Agreement should be asked why they are doing it. And we defend ourselves as we know and can. Maybe we make mistakes sometimes, maybe sometimes we do it perfectly, we adapt to the situations in which we are. However, those who attack us really have no need to do so. Srpska and the Dayton Agreement are a formula for living here in the future in peace, happiness, and prosperity – Tadić emphasized.
Serb Partisans
He assessed as inaccurate the statement that BiH is being expelled from the territory of Republika Srpska.
The attempt to take away November 25 from Serb partisans, Serb members of the ZAVNOBiH, whose descendants we mostly are, is not correct. It is an attempt to poke a finger in the eye – Tadić concluded.
Source: RTRS
