BiH Court requests international arrest warrant for Dodik and Stevandic

The Court confirmed that on March 26, it received a request from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina to issue an international warrant for the suspects.
"The basis for this request, which has been approved, stems from the actions of Dodik and Stevandic, who, using their high-ranking positions in the Republika Srpska entity, crossed the state border and left Bosnia and Herzegovina while circumventing legally mandated border control procedures," the Court stated.

It has been confirmed that Dodik is currently in Israel, while Stevandic, after avoiding standard control procedures, returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 18, 2025. This, according to the authorities, suggests a high probability that both individuals could leave the country again at any moment.

"This is the basis for proceeding in accordance with Article 446, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, leading to the issuance of an international warrant," the Court added.

The Court emphasized that the issuance of the warrant falls under the jurisdiction of Interpol's National Central Bureau.

Dodik left Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday for the first time since the arrest warrant was issued against him. His departure from the country legally opened the possibility of initiating an international warrant request. After briefly stopping in Serbia, he continued to Israel, where he remains.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Border Police announced an investigation into how Dodik managed to cross the border, especially amid reports that his convoy, with flashing emergency lights, passed through the Rača border crossing without stopping for standard procedures.

A similar incident was reported in mid-March when Stevandic left Bosnia and Herzegovina for Serbia on March 15, the same day as mass student protests. He returned to Bosnia a few days later, but details of his return remain unknown.

Dodik and Stevandic, along with Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic, are suspects in a case led by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning the criminal offence of undermining the constitutional order. Although arrest warrants were recently issued for them, authorities assessed that attempting to detain them through standard procedures would pose an excessive security risk.

It is noteworthy that Viskovic has not yet crossed the state border, which is why an Interpol warrant has not been requested for him at this time.