Latest news with #Stevandic
Korea Herald
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Bosnia says Interpol refused 'red notice' appeal for wanted leader Dodik
Interpol has confirmed its refusal to issue a notice to detain Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who is wanted by Bosnia's federal authorities on secession charges, a court said on Wednesday. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina said Interpol "has not accepted a request to revise its decision about the issue of an arrest warrant" against Dodik, president of the Bosnian Serb statelet of Republika Srpska, and RS parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic. Interpol declined a request to comment. Since the end of its bloody inter-ethnic war in 1995, Bosnia has been split between two autonomous halves -- the Serbs' Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat Federation. Each has its own government and parliament, with only weak central institutions binding the country of 3.5 million people together. Dodik, 66, and Stevandic, 58, as well as RS prime minister Radovan Viskovic, 61, are wanted for questioning on suspicion of "attacking the constitutional order" in Bosnia. Interpol earlier this month rejected a Bosnian request to issue a "red notice," which asks law enforcement bodies worldwide to provisionally detain a wanted person pending extradition. Dodik, who has led the RS since 2006, was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from holding political office for six in February for failing to comply with decisions of the international high representative who oversees the peace accord in Bosnia. He rejected the trial as "political" and responded by banning the federal police and judiciary from operating in the Serb statelet. Federal prosecutors deemed his actions secessionist and opened an investigation, but the three men have not been arrested because of the risk of destabilising the fragile Balkan nation. Dodik and Stevandic both travelled abroad after an arrest warrant was issued on March 18, prompting the Bosnian courts to contact Interpol. The RS leader has been in Serbia, Israel and Russia in recent weeks, and is expected to be in Moscow again on May 9 for a parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Bosnia's federal police attempted to question him last week when he was in east Sarajevo, which is part of the Serb statelet, but were blocked by Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry forces.
Russia Today
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Interpol refuses request to arrest Bosnian Serb leader
Interpol has rejected Bosnia and Herzegovina's request to issue wanted alerts for the president and parliament speaker of Republika Srpska – a Serb-majority region within the country. Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik made the announcement on X on Wednesday. Bosnia's state court also confirmed to Reuters that a Red Notice for Dodik and parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic had not come into effect. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. Interpol's decision followed an appeal from neighboring Serbia, which argued that Sarajevo's request was politically motivated and violated Interpol's neutrality principles. 'I just received a call from [Serbian] President Aleksandar Vucic to inform me that… that Interpol rejected the request of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to issue a red notice for [Speaker Nenad] Stevandic and me,' Dodik wrote on X on Wednesday. READ MORE: Western 'interventionism' has turned Bosnia and Herzegovina into a 'failed state' – Bosnian Serb leader The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had sought the Interpol notice after Dodik defied an arrest warrant at home and traveled to Serbia, Israel, and Russia in March. Dodik and Stevandic have been accused of 'attacking the constitutional order' by allegedly enacting laws that restrict the operations of Bosnia's state-level judiciary and law enforcement agencies. Created under the 1995 US-brokered Dayton Peace Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina is comprised of the Bosniak-Croat Federation and Republika Srpska, with a tripartite presidency and an international overseer – the Office of the High Representative (OHR). Dodik has long rejected the OHR's authority, accusing it of overreach and undermining Republika Srpska's autonomy. He was sentenced in February to a year in prison and a six-year political ban for defying the OHR. The Serbian leadership vowed to prevent the detention of Republika Srpska's top officials and described Sarajevo's moves as a 'continuous attempt at revenge' against Dodik and the Serbian people. Russia denounced Dodik's conviction as an 'absolutely political' decision by the Bosnia and Herzegovina judiciary based on a 'pseudo-law' pushed through by the OHR. READ MORE: Moscow comments on conviction of Bosnian Serb leader Earlier this week, Dodik visited Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with RT, he said the Dayton Agreement is no longer upheld and that he is seeking Putin's assistance in bringing the situation to the UN Security Council.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bosnia issues international arrest warrant for Serb leader Dodik
Bosnia issued an international arrest warrant Thursday for Milorad Dodik, the leader of the deeply divided country's Serb statelet who is accused of flouting the constitution. Dodik, who for years has led a campaign chipping away at the Balkan country's weak central institutions, denounced the warrant as an "abuse of the justice system for political ends" while on a visit to Israel. A similar arrest warrant was issued for the speaker of the Serb entity Republika Srpska's (RS) assembly, Nenad Stevandic, who returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 18 after a visit to Serbia. Since the end of the 1992-1995 war, Bosnia has been split into two semi-autonomous halves -- the Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat federation. Both have their own governments and parliaments and share weak central institutions. The prosecutor's office said warrants were issued for Dodik and Stevandic for "using their high-ranking positions in the Republika Srpska entity" to go abroad "while evading legally prescribed border control procedures". After travelling to Israel on Tuesday to attend an international conference on combating anti-Semitism attended by European far-right figures, Dodik said he was "relaxed" about the warrant. "Nothing surprising. The abuse of the justice system for political ends continues," he said from Jerusalem on Wednesday, alleging that the purpose of the warrant was "to isolate me". Without giving details on his coming schedule, Dodik hinted that he had "some very important activities" planned in the coming days. The RS leader, who is an ally of the Kremlin, had postponed a trip to Moscow last week. "We will do all that and return to the RS in a calm manner next week," Dodik said. - 'Grounds for action' - Dodik has threatened to secede the Serb entity from Bosnia and barred central police and judicial officials from working there -- an order that was suspended by the constitutional court. Dodik, Stevandic and RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic are accused of attacking the constitutional order, and an arrest warrant was issued within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dodik and Stevandic then defied this by travelling abroad. "All of this suggests that both individuals could be abroad at any given moment, which provides grounds for action," the State Court said in a statement, adding that it had issued an international arrest order and the matter was now in Interpol's hands. Stevandic was seen in the Serbian capital Belgrade on March 15. Tensions have soared in Bosnia since Dodik was sentenced last month to a year in prison and handed a six-year ban from public office for defying Christian Schmidt, the international envoy charged with overseeing the peace deal that ended Bosnia's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s. Bosnia's divided politics and fragile post-war institutions have faced increasing uncertainty amid the unfolding political crisis. rus-oz/sbk/js
