Podžić: Members of the BiH Armed Forces who voted in the referendum are directly undermining the BiH Constitution and must be punished

Members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina who participated in the unconstitutional referendum in Republika Srpska on Sunday, September 25, are directly undermining the BiH Constitution, the state's constitutional order, and the Law on Defense of BiH, said Sifet Podžić, President of the Joint Commission for Defense and Security of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, for the Patria news agency.

On Sunday evening, in the N1 evening news, footage from polling stations in the smaller BiH entity showed two members of the Armed Forces of BiH who participated in the unconstitutional referendum, and they were in uniform!?

Article 5 of the Law on Defense of BiH clearly stipulates that "The Armed Forces may not be used for political purposes or for the activities of political parties.".

- The Armed Forces of BiH must be depoliticized. Its members must not be used for political purposes. Checks will be carried out, and it is now up to the competent authorities in the Ministry of Defense of BiH and the Inspector General to take measures prescribed by law.

We will also consider this issue at the Commission session we will hold on October 6. If the Ministry of Defense of BiH does not react urgently in this case, we will react, because an attack on the state and its Constitution is unacceptable. Every member of the BiH Armed Forces who participated in the referendum must be punished, says Podžić.

Article 15 of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of BiH defines that a military person has the rights and duties to "protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of BiH in accordance with the BiH Constitution and international law.".

A military person is obliged to comply with the Law on Defense of BiH, directives, regulations, orders of the Minister of Defense, the Security Policy, and the Defense Policy of BiH.

Persons in service in the Armed Forces can be held criminally and disciplinarily liable, and one process does not exclude the other.

The Criminal Code of BiH, in Chapter 16, defines criminal offenses against the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the undermining of the constitutional order, for which a prison sentence of up to five years is prescribed.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH can, ex officio, in accordance with the Law on Criminal Procedure of BiH, initiate an investigation in the case of members of the BiH Armed Forces participating in the vote in the unconstitutional referendum, regardless of the investigation that the Ministry of Defense of BiH will initiate.

The Ministry of Defense of BiH did not respond to our inquiry during the day regarding members of the BiH Armed Forces who were even filmed while voting in the referendum.

In the news footage, at 24 seconds and 2:36 minutes, members of the BiH Armed Forces are seen voting.