BUBIĆ: ORAL APPEAL TO BE PRESENTED AGAINST FIRST-INSTANCE JUDGMENT

EAST SARAJEVO, MAY 29 /SRNA/ – The defense team of the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, has received a summons for the session of the Appellate Panel at which it will orally present its appeal against the first-instance judgment of the unconstitutional Court of BiH, Dodik's attorney Goran Bubić told SRNA.

Bubić stated that the session is scheduled for June 12 at 1:00 p.m. The Appellate Panel that will deliver the second-instance verdict against the President of Republika Srpska consists of judges Hilmo Vučinić, Staniša Gluhajić, and Amela Huskić. They were selected via the Court Management System (CMS), an automated case assignment system. Judge Vučinić served as a judge of the District Military Court in Goražde during the recent war and has a controversial background. A complaint was filed with the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) of BiH against Judge Vučinić for alleged biased rulings during the war aimed at demonizing Serbs, Viktor Nuždić, Acting Director of the Republic Center for Research of War, War Crimes and Missing Persons, has said. Both the defense and the unconstitutional Prosecutor’s Office of BiH have filed appeals against the first-instance judgment issued to Dodik. On February 26, the unconstitutional Court of BiH sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and imposed a ban on holding public office for six years, starting from the finality of the judgment. The judgment was handed down for alleged non-compliance with the decisions of Christian Schmidt. In the same case, Miloš Lukić, Acting Director of the Official Gazette of Republika Srpska, was acquitted of the charges.