Director of the Official Gazette of BiH's RS entity Milos Lukic acquitted

The indictment, filed in 2023, charged Dodik and Lukic with systematically undermining state authority by enacting laws that sought to "detach" Republika Srpska (RS) from the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and refusing to recognize the decisions of the High Representative of the international community. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina argued that these laws directly threatened the sovereignty of the state and paved the way for the de facto secession of RS.
According to the first count of the indictment, Dodik, using his official powers, issued a decree proclaiming the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Publication of Laws and Other Regulations of Republika Srpska, which he personally signed and which was adopted by the National Assembly on June 21. By doing so, he refused to implement and enforce the High Representative’s decision that suspended the legislative process for enacting this law and the decree itself.

Prosecutors argued in the indictment that Dodik was fully aware that the High Representative’s decisions are binding under his authority. From the outset, Dodik has challenged Schmidt’s mandate, claiming that the procedures for his appointment at the United Nations Security Council were not followed.

The second count stated that Lukic, as acting director of the "Official Gazette of Republika Srpska," signed a form on July 9 allowing the publication of decisions and laws forwarded to him by Dodik.

Dodik and his government allies had previously announced radical measures in the event of a guilty verdict. Dodik himself went so far as to threaten the dissolution of the state. Similar threats were echoed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.