Court of BiH issues statement on Milorad Dodik's appellate ruling

(Patria) - After media reported that the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH confirmed the first-instance verdict against Milorad Dodik, the Court of BiH issued a statement, which we are transmitting in its entirety:

"Given the significant attention from the media and the public in general, as well as numerous inquiries directed to the Court of BiH almost daily, we inform you that the panel of the Appellate Department of the Court of BiH, following a public hearing held on June 12, 2025, rendered a verdict rejecting the appeal of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the appeal of the defense of the accused Milorad Dodik, thereby confirming the first-instance verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, number S1 2 K 046070 23 K of February 26, 2025.

The written copy of the verdict of the Appellate Department panel was sent to the parties on August 1, 2025, and no appeal is permitted against this verdict.

We remind you that by the first-instance verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, number S1 2 K 046070 23 K of February 26, 2025, the accused Milorad Dodik was found guilty of committing the criminal offense of non-execution of decisions of the High Representative from Article 203a, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of BiH, for which he was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 1 (one) year. Based on Article 203a, Paragraph 4 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with Article 73 of the Criminal Code of BiH, a security measure prohibiting the performance of the duties of the President of Republika Srpska for a duration of 6 (six) years was imposed on the accused Milorad Dodik, from the date the verdict becomes legally binding, with the time spent serving the prison sentence not counting towards the duration of this security measure.

Contrary to the above, the accused Miloš Lukić was acquitted by the cited first-instance verdict of the charge that by the actions described in the acquittal part of the operative part of the contested verdict, he committed the criminal offense of non-execution of decisions of the High Representative from Article 203a, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH) in conjunction with Article 54 of the same Code."