Lukač at NSRS Session: SIPA Has No Right to Search Police Stations in RS

Due to, as the RS Government has already concluded, the "unconstitutional entry of SIPA members into the premises of the Bosanski Novi Police Station," a Special Session of the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska is underway in Banja Luka, requested by Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović, reports the Patria news agency.

This is the only item on the agenda of this 13th Special Session of the NSRS, which is attended by 43 deputies.

Deputies from the opposition and the "Homeland" Coalition are not attending the session.

The introductory remarks on this event were given by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republika Srpska, Dragan Lukač. Lukač said that the search of three locations in Bosanski Novi, including the Police Station, was inappropriate, provocative, and a precedent in dealing with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS.

"The Court of BiH concluded that the MUP RS would hide or destroy evidence located in the police station in Bosanski Novi. I express the strongest protest against such a manner of proceeding because over these 23 years the evidence could have been destroyed, which no one did, and it was not even located in the Bosanski Novi Police Station," said Lukač in his address at the special session of the NSRS.

He assessed that such conduct by the competent authorities of BiH represents a maximum of distrust and does not lead to good cooperation in BiH among police and security institutions.

"This is a humiliation of the MUP RS because the MUP is not a criminal organization for someone to search our premises and seize data in this manner. They could have obtained the data from us, but they decided to search the Bosanski Novi Police Station," Lukač emphasized.

He stated that SIPA members yesterday informed the MUP RS that today in Bosanski Novi they would undertake measures and actions with the aim of implementing orders from the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH.

"They informed us that they would arrest five persons suspected of committing war crimes and search three locations, which is not disputed. However, according to the order of the Court of BiH, we did not know which locations were to be searched. We saw that among them was the Police Station," Lukač explained.

He recalled that the MUP RS has so far assisted SIPA in many operations ordered by the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH.

Lukač proposed to the National Assembly to adopt the conclusions of the RS Government, including that due to the unconstitutional actions of SIPA, cooperation with this agency, as well as with the Court and Prosecutor's Office of BiH, be terminated.

The Special Session of the NSRS is also attended by the President of the Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and Prime Minister Željka Cvijanović, reports RTRS.