Serbs in Bosnia need to find other ways to achieve justice, as the Bosnian Court does not prioritize prosecuting crimes committed against them, Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik told reporters in Gradiska today.

“It is obvious that for the judiciary in Bosnia, prosecuting war crimes committed against Serbs is not a priority. We saw this in the recent farce regarding Dudakovic,” said Dodik, who is President of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) semi-autonomous entity.

He was referring to Atif Dudakovic, the former Bosnian Army general who was arrested on Friday and stands accused of war crimes committed between 1994 and 1995, and 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.

Despite prosecutions request for the suspects to remain in custody ahead of his trial, the Bosnian State Court ordered his release.

“It took 12 years for him, the former general of the Fifth Corps of the Bosnian Army, to be taken in and identified as the person ordering to murder and ‘clean up’ all Serbs, and then we also got a moral slap in the face from Bosnia’s judiciary which allowed him to defend himself as a free man,” he said.

Serbs should not trust a type of justice that is insufficient, comes too late and humiliating for them, he said, adding that Republika Srpska needs to strengthen its own potentials.

“The policies of Republika Srpska today entail preservation of its territory and freedoms, and the strengthening of its institutions. Our economy can now survive new investment ventures as well. More than 150 million BAM will be paid into various infrastructure projects, without including those like motorways and hospitals which we are building,” he said.