Advisor to the President of Republika Srpska, Slavko Mitrović, confirmed today before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that he had advised President Milorad Dodik that there were no legal obstacles preventing him from signing the decrees for the promulgation of laws passed by the National Assembly.
“There was no doubt about this for President Dodik, nor for the legal experts and his advisors, as it was a constitutional matter,” Mitrović emphasized.
According to him, Dodik was warned at the time that if he refused to sign the decrees for the promulgation of laws, he could face imprisonment for the criminal offense of attacking the constitutional order of Republika Srpska.
Responding to questions from both the defense and the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mitrović confirmed that Republika Srpska had ignored the decisions of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), meaning that those decisions were not published in the Official Gazette.
He recalled that Republika Srpska has long challenged both the presence and the appointment of foreign judges in the incomplete Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mitrović noted that all advice given to the President of Republika Srpska was unanimous in this regard, and Dodik accepted it.
He stressed that the President of Republika Srpska independently makes all decisions within his jurisdiction, in accordance with the Constitution of Republika Srpska.
Mitrović also pointed out that it had previously been explained to the President that Christian Schmidt was appointed by the ambassadors of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) rather than by the UN Security Council, at Germany’s proposal, which Republika Srpska found entirely unacceptable. This led to the drafting of the law on non-recognition of the high representative’s decisions.
The trial is scheduled to continue on Wednesday, February 5, with testimony from the main defendant in the case, Milorad Dodik.
Source: RTRS
