The central warrant for Dodik is just buying time: Can an ordinary policeman arrest Dodik if the SIPA Alpha team doesn't want to?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued a central warrant for Milorad Dodik (it is not known exactly when, as media reports vary) and it is expected that the competent police agencies (any policeman) will act in accordance with the law. However, everyone is forgetting that the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), headed by SNSD's Darko Ćulum, assessed that the arrest would be "high-risk", but regardless, the media have characterized the central warrant as a move that corners Dodik.

And he is so powerless that today he announced the establishment of the Republika Srpska border police.

it has become clear that political power overrides legal norms in the country.

In theory, every police agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina is obliged to act on an issued warrant. However, in practice, political influence and institutional blockades often determine what will actually happen. If the most trained and best-equipped unit, such as the SIPA Alpha-team Special Unit, avoids arrest citing high risk, the question arises whether any ordinary policeman on the ground would dare and be able to take on such responsibility.

Let's imagine a situation where a policeman at a border crossing or on regular patrol recognizes Dodik. Would he be able to decide to arrest him, knowing that the highest security bodies in the country are already weighing the political and security consequences?

Or would he, like many before him, choose to avoid potential conflict and not take on a responsibility that is clearly too heavy even for specialized units?

This situation exposes the reality in Bosnia and Herzegovina – the enforcement of law is selective and depends on political will. When the rule of law retreats before political interests, institutions that should guarantee security and justice become powerless.

The arrest of Milorad Dodik, regardless of the legal grounds, has become more of a political than a legal issue. As long as the judicial system and police agencies operate under the influence of political power brokers, it is difficult to expect any policeman to take on a responsibility that even the state itself does not want or dare to take.