Sawt Falasteen - Bosnia top court suspends Serb leader's separatist laws

Coming as Dodik urged ethnic Serbs to quit the federal police force and courts, the suspension casts further uncertainty on Bosnia's politics and its fragile, post-war institutions.

A week after Dodik was convicted for defying an international envoy charged with overseeing Bosnia's peace accords, the court said it was "temporarily suspending" the legislation "until the announcement of a definitive decision".

Dodik had earlier this week signed off on the legislation, which was due to come into force in the Republika Srpska (RS) on Friday.

Both the European Union and the US embassy in Sarajevo condemned the law, while Bosnia's Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic described the law as a "textbook coup d'etat" in comments on Wednesday.

Dodik, who has pursued a relentless separatist agenda for years, called on ethnic Serbs to abandon the central government and join his RS.

"We have ensured them a job, while preserving their legal status, ranks, and positions. They will receive the same salary, or even a higher salary than they had," said the RS president.

Dodik later added there were no plans for violent escalation but insisted that the RS had "the ability to defend itself, and we will do that".

- Tension -

Dodik pushed the legislation through the RS parliament last week, after he was sentenced to a year in prison and banned from office for six years for refusing to comply with decisions made by Christian Schmidt -- the international high representative charged with overseeing Bosnia's peace accords.

Dodik also said this week that he planned to ignore a summons from Bosnia's chief prosecutor who is investigating Dodik for allegedly undermining the constitution.

The now suspended legislation had escalated already fraught tensions on the ground.

At the Srebrenica Memorial Centre -- where most of the 8,000 victims killed by ethnic Serb forces in July 1995 are buried -- the facility said it had closed its doors "until further notice", citing uncertainty triggered by the ongoing political crisis.

"This decision has been made due to the inability to ensure adequate security guarantees for our employees, collaborators, guests, and visitors," the centre, which is located in the RS, said in a statement posted online.

During an interview with a local broadcaster, Darko Culum -- who oversees Bosnia's federal police force -- dispelled rumours that their offices had been targeted by operations from RS security personnel in east Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

"The security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is stable and calm," he told N1 television.

The Bosnian Muslim member of the country's joint presidency, Denis Becirovic, also hit back at Dodik's latest move and implored state employees to remain in their positions.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina will prevail. It is difficult indeed, but we will win. We cannot give up," he added.

- Separatist agenda -

Since the end of Bosnia's inter-ethnic war in the 1990s, the country has consisted of two autonomous halves -- the Serb-dominated RS and a Muslim-Croat statelet.

The two are linked by weak central institutions, while each has its own government and parliament.

The high representative holds vast powers in Bosnia -- including the ability to effectively fire political leaders and strip them of power.

Dodik's conviction last week was linked to his role pushing through two laws in 2023 previously annulled by high representative Schmidt.

The legislation refused to recognise decisions made by the high representative and Bosnia's constitutional court in RS.

This followed months of tensions, as Dodik engaged in a bitter feud with Schmidt.

The RS president has repeatedly threatened to pull the Serb statelet out of Bosnia's central institutions -- including its army, judiciary and tax system, which has led to sanctions from the United States.

H.Nasr--SF-PST