On February 26, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina found Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison and a six-year ban from political activity.
This sounds like a perfectly normal thing in democratic societies when a crime is committed. However, neither was the trial normal, nor did the crime exist, nor is Bosnia and Herzegovina a democratic society. This is the only possible conclusion when examining the entire botched trial.
Namely, as is known, Dodik was convicted for disrespecting the decisions of Christian Schmidt - who presents himself as a high representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and whose legitimacy and legality are non-existent.
The beginning of the flawed process
To understand why the entire process is, to put it mildly, flawed, it is important to go back to the very beginning. On July 1, 2023, a German citizen imposed amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which placed him above the sovereign state. With these amendments, he invented the criminal offense of "Failure to implement decisions of the High Representative."
His decision was published on July 7 in the Official Gazette of BiH.
On July 7, Dodik, as is his constitutional obligation as president, signed a decree amending the law, previously adopted by the National Assembly, that in the future the decisions of the High Representative would not be published.
And this is where we encounter the first legal contradiction and inconsistency. If Dodik signed the Decree on July 7, and the so-called German decision was published in the Official Gazette on the same day, the question arises as to when it entered into force. As lawyer Anto Nobilo explained, every law in Bosnia and Herzegovina must be published in the Official Gazette and only then does it come into force, at the earliest, the following day. This means that in this case, the decision in Dodik's case was applied retroactively, which is unprecedented in practice.
Indictment and trial
The indictment against President Milorad Dodik and the acting director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, Miloš Lukić, was confirmed on September 11, 2023. The trial began on February 5, 2024, and proceeded at an unprecedented pace in the Bosnian judiciary.
Hearings were scheduled on an express basis, almost as a rule once a week. During the trial, the defense explained that the law under which the defendants were being tried was not passed by any legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, by any Parliament, as it should be under the country's constitutional order.
However, the Court was clearly not interested in this fact.
The defense also requested that Christian Schmidt himself, whose decisions were used to try Dodik and Lukić, testify at the trial, as well as to show the resolution by which the German was appointed High Representative. The court repeatedly rejected requests for Schmidt's testimony, which is legally absurd, given that lawfully elected officials were being tried based on his decisions. As for the resolution, it was not shown in court for one simple reason - because such a resolution does not exist, given that Russia categorically rejected Schmidt's appointment to the United Nations Security Council.
So, to clarify, the legitimately elected President of Republika Srpska was tried in the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for disrespecting the decisions of a foreigner whose legitimacy does not exist. In doing so, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina completely ignored the need to hear that same foreigner as a witness.
From the beginning of the trial, everything indicated that there was a desire for Dodik to distance himself from political life. Perhaps the strongest evidence supporting this is the fact that the Court tried to schedule hearings at times when Dodik was not in good health to attend them.
Ignoring doctors' recommendations following Dodik's esophageal and stomach surgery, the Court insisted on proceeding with the trial. They even sent a doctor from Sarajevo who stated that Dodik was fit to continue the trial, although he was far from it.
However, the Sarajevo doctor was soon refuted by a team of six doctors who examined Dodik and determined that he was indeed unfit to stand trial, thus at least briefly putting an end to the threat to Dodik's human rights.
After the President of Republika Srpska recovered, the trial continued and the verdict was handed down on February 26 of this year. Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison, with a six-year ban on political activity.
Undermining the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The trial against Dodik and Lukić has completely exposed the story that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sovereign country. What's more, it seems that it has never been further from that.
If Bosnia and Herzegovina is a sovereign country, how is it possible that a foreign citizen can impose any law and nullify the laws of the highest legislative bodies elected by citizens in direct elections?
And that is exactly what happened in this case. To make matters worse, because of the sick desires of a German citizen, a man who was voted for by 300,000 people was put on trial without legitimacy. And this is because of what he is obliged to do under the Constitution - we remind you, Dodik signed the decree on Amendments to the Law that was voted by the National Assembly, the largest legislative body of the Republika Srpska.
With his actions, Schmidt rendered meaningless the existence of all institutions throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, even the right to vote of the citizens of this country, and plunged the country into its greatest crisis since the war in the 1990s, which ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement.
Perhaps the best description of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country, the insane behavior of the illegitimate Schmidt, and the trial against Dodik was given by the President of neighboring Croatia, Zoran Milanović.
"Dodik is the most popular politician among Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is the European way, which is totally wrong. It is not even violent. It is some kind of manipulation, a plot, an attempt to expel a democratically elected representative of the Serbian people from political life because he did not obey the order of the colonial administrator, a long-retired German politician. What century are we living in?" Milanović asked.
What is going on, mr Schimdt?
Going back to the very beginning of the story of Christian Schmidt, we probably all should have assumed that he would cause big problems here. It is enough to recall his schizophrenic outbursts just a few days after he arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Schmidt mocked Serbian victims—specifically, the Serbian victims whose lives were taken by his Germany and its then-allies, primarily the NDH.
He visited Gradina, a memorial site for the 700,000 people killed in Jasenovac by the Nazis during World War II, and pretended to pay tribute to the victims, despite having previously honored the Nazis. Watch the video about it here:
Additionally, despite having no legal right to do so, Schmidt (or rather his security team) brought three Heckler & Koch rifles into Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to all legal procedures, Schmidt’s security personnel are only allowed to carry personal firearms—specifically, handguns—if they obtain the necessary permits.
This German citizen has frequently made headlines in his home country, often for negative reasons.
A group of former diplomats and Balkan experts sent a letter to the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee requesting the impeachment of Christian Schmidt. They accused the CSU politician of causing lasting damage to both the peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany’s international reputation, as reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel yesterday.
"Even before his alleged appointment as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 2021, there were doubts about the qualifications of former Federal Minister of Agriculture Christian Schmidt for this highly responsible position," the diplomats stated in the letter.
They further argued that Schmidt’s primary duty was to ensure the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. By appointing Schmidt to this crucial position, Angela Merkel and the German government assumed a significant responsibility, the diplomats noted. They emphasized that fulfilling this role requires a high degree of diplomatic skill, impartiality, neutrality, regional expertise, and tact.
"This is particularly important due to Bosnia and Herzegovina's complex nature as a multi-ethnic state with three constituent peoples and seventeen national minorities. Despite the de facto division into two entities—Republika Srpska, with a Serb majority, and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, dominated by Bosniaks and Croats—it remains a multi-ethnic state. Schmidt has repeatedly demonstrated that he lacks the ability to fulfill his role in a neutral and responsible manner. This has been evident in his public interactions with media representatives and during peaceful protests in the summer of 2022. The allegations against Schmidt, as well as his misconduct, continue to grow. These include accusations of bias, nepotism, and incompetence in carrying out his duties," the letter states.
Schmidt as a Former Minister in the German Government
From 2014 to 2018, Schmidt served as Germany’s Federal Minister of Agriculture. His tenure is primarily remembered for a major scandal that shook Angela Merkel’s coalition government. Without consulting the Social Democrats (SPD), the coalition partners of the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), Schmidt unilaterally approved the use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate at the EU level—despite an agreement to the contrary.
