“Our duty is to point out what is not in accordance with the law; we did that today, and we will continue to do so in the future,” stated lawyer Goran Bubić following the hearing for the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik and Acting Director of the Official Gazette Miloš Lukić before the Court of BiH.
“Today, at the start of the hearing, we saw an awkward substitution of a witness, but no explanation as to why witness Siniša Soldat could not appear in the main hearing,” said Bubić.
Bubić noted that the Prosecutor’s Office then presented two other witnesses.
“These witnesses are part of the Prosecutor’s team, which essentially means that the Prosecutor’s Office is questioning individuals involved in the investigation and, in effect, questioning themselves,” Bubić emphasized.
He pointed out that there are clear restrictions in such cases, supported by the European Court of Human Rights, which does not permit such actions.
“As you know, we previously proposed that Christian Schmidt be questioned on these disputed aspects of the case, but that was refused. Instead, they brought in Mr. Diaz, who corresponded with the prosecutors, and now they are trying to introduce this correspondence, lacking substantive legal grounds, as evidence in this criminal case. Clearly, this is unacceptable,” Bubić added.
He said that, as the defense, they raised numerous objections regarding violations of legal provisions.
Lawyer Miljkan Pucar stated that the defense seeks only the application of the BiH Criminal Procedure Code and relevant BiH regulations, from the BiH Constitution, the Constitution of Republika Srpska, and other laws.
“Today, the defense requested that every document in a foreign language be translated by an authorized court interpreter. Unfortunately, the Prosecutor’s Office should know this requirement and ensure all evidence provided in English is translated by an official court interpreter, instead of submitting unsigned Word documents and claiming they are translations,” said Pucar.
Lawyer Anto Nobilo expressed his expectation that the case will conclude in December.
“With the next three hearings scheduled in November, we could reach the end of the evidentiary phase, followed by defense presentations or closing statements from both the Prosecutor’s Office and the defense. That would require two to three days, and a verdict from the court is expected three days afterward. In any case, the process should conclude by the end of this year,” Nobilo explained.
He noted that letters from the Office of the High Representative (OHR) were presented in which their legal counsel tries to argue that the law under which Dodik is being tried was published on the OHR’s website.
Nobilo added that the issue lies in the fact that BiH regulations state that every law must be published in the Official Gazette, followed by a period before it comes into effect.
Source: RTRS
