SARAJEVO – Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top court lifted the detention and arrest warrant against Milorad Dodik, the President of BiH entity Republika Srpska on 4 July, after he agreed to voluntarily show up for questioning in the Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo, on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of “attack on the constitutional order”.
The Court issued a ruling accepting the Prosecutor’s proposal and lifted the detention order against Dodik, since it was determined that “there are no longer grounds for which it was previously ordered,” whereas, at the same time imposing restrictive measures of “mandatory periodic reporting to a state authority”, N1 BiH reported.
The ban will remain in force as long as there is a need for it or until the court decides otherwise. The review of the validity of these measures will be carried out every two months.
“The suspect was specifically warned that he may be remanded in custody if he violates the obligations under the imposed prohibition measures,” the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH said in a joint statement.
Dodik told RTRS that the new reality was that he was no longer banned from traveling abroad and moving around BiH.
“I agreed to come to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina voluntarily and after an hour and a half I received decisions on the lifting of the detention and the lifting of the search warrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad. Of course, this is a case that will continue”, he said.
Dodik stressed that he had to report to the police station in Laktaši every 15 days.
“I do not feel triumphant, but tired of everything”, he claimed.
The Court of BiH sentenced Dodik on 26 February to one year in prison and six years of political disqualification for failing to comply with the decisions of the High Representative for BiH, Christian Schmidt. Following the ruling, the RS authorities adopted a draft of a new constitution of the entity.
In March 2025, the Court of BiH issued a central arrest warrant for Milorad Dodik, as well as Radovan Višković, Prime Minister, and Nenad Stevandić, Speaker of the RS National Assembly. Dodik, Višković, and Stevandić were suspected of the criminal offence of undermining the constitutional order. Despite the warrant, Dodik travelled abroad accompanied by Republika Srpska police, visiting neighboring Serbia, Russia and Hungary.
The lifting of the detention and arrest warrant against Dodik was criticised by the majority of BiH officials, as well as by opposition politicians in RS. Critics expressed their belief that the court’s decision was a product of a political agreement.
