SRPSKA’S CONSTITUTIONAL AND DAYTON POSITION WILL BE PROTECTED

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 1 /SRNA/ – Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Višković has stated today that Srpska and its institutions will do everything in their power to protect their constitutional and Dayton position, following the confirmation of the first-instance verdict against the president of the Republic.

"The crackdown and political ban imposed on the president of Republika Srpska is a direct attack on the Constitution of Srpska and the Constitution of BiH. We ask: Who benefits from provoking a constitutional and political crisis in BiH? Clearly not the people living in these areas. We are all suffering great harm," Višković said. He emphasized that whenever BiH takes a normal course, towards work and development, some foreign factor always interferes, promoting internal tensions, and once again certain BiH institutions, such as the Court of BiH, are used to target the legal and legitimate representatives of one people. "This is unacceptable and incomprehensible to rational people across the world - that the Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of BiH are enforcing decisions made by an illegal so-called High Representative, who behaves more like a colonial emperor than a High Representative," the Srpska prime minister stated. He questioned whether it is even possible that in the 21st century, in BiH, a foreign headmaster can unilaterally override laws, thereby nullifying the legitimacy of institutions such as parliaments at all levels. "Everywhere else in the world, parliaments are the institutions that create and amend legislation. There is no other example of this anywhere, nor any behaviour resembling that of the so-called High Representative," Višković pointed out. This, he added, clearly reveals an intent to crack down on the Serb people and Republika Srpska. "Thirty years after the Dayton, there are still ongoing attempts to abolish the institutions of Republika Srpska, unfortunately using the judiciary of BiH as a tool against lawfully elected representatives of Srpska," Višković said. The Appellate Division of the Court of BiH confirmed the first-instance verdict against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik, sentencing him to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activity for "disrespecting the decisions of Christian Schmidt."