The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, stated that decisions of the BiH Constitutional Court in its current composition do not apply in Republika Srpska and that Republika Srpska will prohibit the functioning of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH on its territory if their officials come to enforce them.
“If this Constitutional Court with three members, two Bosniaks and one Croat, thinks it is legitimate and legal and that it will make some decisions, it won’t. If they think that tomorrow, at the session, they can say that this defamation law is not constitutional, I say that it will be applicable, and their decision will not be applied in Republika Srpska,” Dodik said.
Dodik emphasized that when he sees how the Constitution is interpreted, he feels like taking his university diploma and tearing it up.
“We have said that decisions of the Constitutional Court in this composition do not apply and will not apply in Republika Srpska. If officials, such as SIPA, the Court, and the Prosecutor’s Office, come to enforce that unconstitutional and illegitimate decision in Republika Srpska, Republika Srpska will prohibit the functioning of the Court and Prosecutor’s Office on its territory,” Dodik stressed.
Responding to the question of whether he exerted pressure on the former judge of the BiH Constitutional Court, Zlatko Knežević, Dodik said that he is not a thug and that Knežević explained why he retired.
“These fabulous judges established that there doesn’t have to be a Serb in the quorum for decision-making. Since that happened without him, and he considers it a violation of rights, he said he was going into retirement,” Dodik explained.
Dodik said that this created an opportunity for Republika Srpska not to elect judges until the issue of the Constitutional Court is resolved.
Source: RTRS