Milorad Dodik, President Republika Srpska (RS) on Monday, his mandate officially ended, after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) rejected the appeal of Dodik's lawyer against the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of BiH, which revoked his mandate for this position.
The Court's decision is final, it was announced from this judicial institution, on August 18, so Dodik is no longer the president of the RS.
Dodik said that Srpska will demand respect and freedom in the referendum in September.
"We are asking for respect and freedom, which will go through the referendum. That is our message - return us to the Dayton Peace Agreement. We will give our opinion at the referendum that will be held at the end of September," Dodik said at the press conference.
He emphasized that the RS will oppose all interventions from outside.
"I don't want to see Serbs subjugated in BiH. If we couldn't be equal, we won't be subjugated either," said Dodik and called on all people in the RS to stand behind the National Assembly and its decisions.
RS Prime Minister Radovan Višković previously resigned on Monday, but also announced that he will remain in the team of Dodik's SNSD party.
Višković confirmed this at a press conference and said that a new Government of the RS is being elected.
Dodik sentenced to one year in prison
Previously, the CEC of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a decision to revoke Dodik's mandate, a few days after the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced in early August that Dodik was legally sentenced to a year in prison and a six-year ban on public office in Bosnia and Herzegovina for disobeying the decisions of the High Representative.
With the appeal, Milorad Dodik's legal team contests the retroactive application of the termination of the mandate, because the termination date was set on June 12, while the decision on the termination of the mandate was made on August 6.
The participation of CEC member Vanja Bjelica-Prutina in the vote on the termination of her mandate was also contested, as she is in litigation with Dodik.
According to her claim for defamation against Dodik, civil proceedings are being conducted before the Basic Court in Sokolac. This court issued a first-instance verdict in October 2024, which rejected the claim, and Bjelica Prutina filed an appeal against the first-instance verdict.
