The decision to release former Bosnian Army general Atif Dudakovic, who stands accused of war crimes, is a sign that Bosnia’s judiciary is under “constant pressure and influence by Bosniak political and religious elites,” said Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.

Bosnia’s State Court today decided to release Atif Dudakovic and his 12 co-defendents from custody.

The former general and the former members of his wartime Fifth Corps were arrested on Friday and are under suspicion of committing war crimes between 1994 and 1995. The crimes are related to the alleged killing of hundreds of captured Bosnian Serb soldiers from the area of Western Krajina and Bosniak civilians who supported the Autonomous Province of West Bosnia during 1994 – a structure that was run by Bosniaks who rebelled against the Sarajevo government.

For Dodik, the President of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) semi-autonomous entity, the decision was expected.

“It is clear that Bosnia’s judiciary is under constant pressure and influence of Bosniak political and religious elites, and that, by compromising prosecutors and judges who work on cases like this one, they usually achieve either an acquittal or the non-processing of suspets,” Dodik said.

He added that this was a clear message to Serbs and to the RS, and another reason why there is no trust in the state court.