Secret negotiations with the judiciary: Dodik arranging a fictitious surrender to have his detention lifted

By Avdo Avdić/Istraga.ba

"One judge is done," a member of the Republika Srpska president's legal team will tell Milorad Dodik in a phone conversation.

"We will finish," he will continue, "the others too".

The conversation took place shortly after a public hearing on appeals before the Appellate Panel of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is expected to decide whether to confirm, amend, or overturn the first-instance verdict by which Milorad Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison and six years of being banned from political activity for the criminal offense of non-compliance with OHR decisions.

There are two judges on the Appellate Panel - Vesna Jesenković and Amela Huskić. The third member of the panel is judge Hilmo Vučinić.

This panel is expected to make a final decision on whether the president of Republika Srpska is guilty according to the indictment of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which charges him with the criminal offense of non-compliance with OHR decisions.

Whether the "judge is done," as one of Dodik's associates says in the recorded conversation, we will know soon.

Otherwise, Dodik and his associates from Banja Luka and Sarajevo, with the help of several actors from the international community, are trying to trade this, as well as other cases that are in the investigation phase.

In that other case, Milorad Dodik, Nenad Stevandić, and Radovan Višković are suspected of committing the criminal offense of attack on the constitutional order.

Because they did not respond to the summons of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, the Court of BiH ordered their detention and issued a central warrant for them, which is valid only within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Last week, Dodik, through members of his family (Vico Zeljković) and the director of a state agency based in Banja Luka (a Bosniak, and WhatsApp messages proving these agreements exist), established contact with high-ranking officials of a security agency based in Sarajevo, and negotiations for a "plea deal" began.

Currently, according to Istraga's information, arrangements are being made for Milorad Dodik to "respond" to the summons of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, which would then, after hearing him, request the Court of BiH to lift the detention measure, as the "suspect is available".

Precisely because of this, the prosecution team investigating Milorad Dodik, Nenad Stevandić, and Radovan Višković was disbanded on Monday. The case, as we have already reported, was assigned solely to prosecutor Vedrana Mijović, daughter of former SNSD cadre Slavko Jovičić Slavuј.

Two scenarios are currently being considered, Istraga sources claim. The first is that Milorad Dodik appears in Sarajevo, at the BiH Prosecutor's Office building, where he would stay for a few hours to give a statement, and then the prosecutor in charge would request the Court of BiH to lift the detention measure.

In the case of the second scenario, the more realistic one, the president of Republika Srpska would appear at the SIPA building in Banja Luka, where he would be questioned as a suspect, either by order or in the presence of the prosecutor.

After that, a proposal to lift the detention would be sent to the Court of BiH, which would, in effect, render the central warrant invalid.

Concurrently with resolving the case that is in the investigation phase, Dodik and his associates are trying to resolve the case that is in the second-instance trial phase.

The hearing before the Appellate Panel of the Court of BiH was held on June 12 this year.