Dodik will go to court when he wants, but for the accused in the 'Dudaković' case, when they are late due to snow, the proceedings are separated!

Written by: A. Čorbo-Zećo

The continuation of the trial of the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has been postponed to December 30 after the defense submitted medical documentation with a request to adjourn the main hearing.

Previously, court medical expert Haris Vranić issued a positive opinion on Dodik's ability to follow the trial. And now a legal vacuum has arisen. It is now clearly unclear on what basis the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina made the decision to postpone the hearing. It is probably a matter of newer documentation indicating a possible deterioration of Dodik's health condition.

However, the yardsticks are not always the same. And while Dodik's trial is being postponed, due to, as the Court claims, the objective impossibility of the accused Milorad Dodik attending the main hearing, other accused do not have such privileges.

Not even under conditions that are more than objective. Namely, at the trial of Atif Dudaković and others on December 23, three of the accused did not appear in court, because heavy snow fell that day, and due to traffic jams they did not arrive at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on time. More precisely, at the start of the trial, they had only just reached Travnik. A witness, also from Krajina, could not attend either, but Judge Željka Marenić decided that the trial should still be held, and that they should read the statement of a deceased witness!?

The defenses, of course, were not prepared, because another witness had been announced, but that did not prevent the trial chamber from holding the hearing anyway.

Thus, at this hearing, the proceedings were separated regarding Husein Balagić, Edin Domazet, and Ejub Konježić, who got stuck in a traffic jam near Travnik.

The presiding judge of the Chamber, Željka Marenić, said that the proceedings against the three accused were being separated so that the hearing would not be postponed since the other accused had arrived. As she added, the proceedings will probably be rejoined in the continuation of the trial!?

The lawyers of the accused remained in the courtroom!

What does this attitude of the Court show us? An inconsistent practice, which has no basis in legal arguments. But, it also shows that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina can do whatever it wants, if it wants to. With the exception of Milorad Dodik.

Now the question remains what if Dodik is again unable to attend the hearing within five days.

Incidentally, the last hearing for Dodik was held on November 20, which means that the one-month deadline for maintaining the continuity of main hearings has passed.

"A main hearing that has been postponed must start again if the composition of the chamber has changed or if the postponement lasted longer than 30 days, but with the consent of the parties and the defense counsel, the chamber may decide that in such a case witnesses and experts are not heard again and a new investigation is not conducted, but that the statements of witnesses and experts given at the earlier main hearing are used, i.e., that the record of the investigation is used," states the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Therefore, so that the trial does not have to be repeated from the beginning, the defenses must agree to that. And, we will wait for that as well, because it is uncertain when Dodik will even appear before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.