Bosnian authorities have lifted the arrest warrant for Milorad Dodik, president of Bosnia’s Serb entity, Republika Srpska (RS), after he voluntarily appeared for questioning as a suspect in an ongoing investigation, officials confirmed Friday.
Dodik had been wanted since March 18 after refusing multiple summonses to testify over actions deemed secessionist, including moves to ban Bosnia’s federal police and judiciary from operating in RS territory, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Despite the warrant, the 66-year-old leader continued traveling abroad, visiting Serbia, Russia, and Hungary with an RS police escort. Bosnia's request for an Interpol red notice was rejected.
On July 4, Dodik presented himself at the prosecutor’s office in Sarajevo with his lawyer. Following his statement, the Bosnian State Court agreed to terminate the warrant and granted conditional release.
“It’s an important thing for me, but it’s also important in relation to those who were ill-intentioned and wanted destabilization,” Dodik said in a televised interview. “I don’t feel triumphalist. I’m tired of it all.”
As part of his release conditions, Dodik must report regularly to authorities, or face renewed detention.
The case against Dodik stems from a February conviction, in which he was sentenced to one year in prison and banned from political office for six years for failing to comply with rulings from the international high representative, who oversees Bosnia’s post-war peace process. Dodik has appealed the verdict, calling it politically motivated.
The ongoing investigation also includes RS Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and parliament president Nenad Stevandic. In May, Bosnia’s Constitutional Court annulled a series of secessionist laws passed by RS authorities, triggering what observers have described as the country’s worst political crisis since the 1992-95 war.
Bosnia remains deeply divided between its two entities, Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation, with fragile central institutions and persistent threats of fragmentation.
