PAJIĆ-BAŠTINAC: COLLUSION BETWEEN UNCONSTITUTIONAL JUDICIARY, MEDIA, AND BOSNIAK POLITICIANS IN ORCHESTRATED PERSECUTION OF SRPSKA’S PRESIDENT

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 23 /SRNA/ – Jelena Pajić-Baštinac, Secretary General to the President of Republika Srpska, told SRNA that the saga of collusion between BiH’s unconstitutional judiciary, Bosniak politicians, and Federation media continues — as evidenced by the daily leaks of information related to the appellate proceedings against Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.

“It's obvious that information continues to leak from these so-called independent judicial institutions, proving once again that this entire process is a farce. Everyone already knows the outcome, and now they’re racing to publish biased legal ‘analyses’ that only show their obsession with and hostility toward Republika Srpska and everything Serbian,” Pajić-Baštinac stressed. She pointed out that BiH, nearly three decades after the war, still faces deep legal, political, and institutional challenges. One of the most critical is the politically fabricated case against the President of Republika Srpska — based on a non-existent criminal offense imposed by Christian Schmidt, a foreign national who considers himself the High Representative. “Everyone in BiH — and in the objective international community — knows that even a legally appointed High Representative has no constitutional or legal authority to impose laws. Such acts are legally null and unenforceable in any democratic system. Schmidt’s unlawful actions have sparked the most severe crisis in post-Dayton BiH,” Pajić-Baštinac emphasized. She added that this alone proves who orchestrated this judicial spectacle. “Even a layperson can see this was staged by Michael Murphy and Christian Schmidt, with the goal of politically eliminating Milorad Dodik — who is, for them and their Bosniak allies, the biggest obstacle to building a unitary BiH. Politically eliminating the leader of BiH’s largest political party — the SNSD — would benefit the only ones in Srpska who acknowledge Schmidt, the opposition. They meet with him for their own gain, as that’s the only way they can win elections. They have no political platform, no regard for Republika Srpska or its people — only their ruthless ambition for power, even through dishonest means,” she emphasized. Pajić-Baštinac underscored that independent legal scholars continue to warn that no one can be prosecuted under laws that haven’t passed through BiH’s legitimate legislative bodies — a violation of basic human rights, namely the right to a lawful trial. “This is something every first-year law student knows,” Pajić-Baštinac said, adding that judges and prosecutors from the unconstitutional Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH have trampled both law and justice with their actions in this case. “This is not the only case where all the judiciary’s independence has come to light. The incomplete BiH Constitutional Court, the unlawful High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, and the Court and Prosecutor’s Office all operate under the influence of foreign embassies, international power centers, and certain Bosniak political interests. They’ve become tools for political persecution rather than impartial enforcers of law,” Pajić-Baštinac pointed out. The political-judicial persecution of Milorad Dodik, according to Pajić-Baštinac, highlights the deep crisis of rule of law in BiH. Instead of dialogue and political solutions to disagreements between Srpska, the Federation, and the international community, the state-level judiciary is being used to silence dissent. “This kind of practice is dangerous for BiH’s future. In democratic societies, law must be clear, stable, and equally applied. Trying Dodik based on a legal act that hasn’t passed through the legislative process raises serious questions about the legitimacy of the entire legal system in BiH. If judicial institutions are used for political purposes, this constitutes a grave violation of human rights and erodes public trust in institutions. BiH urgently needs serious judicial reform, a return to constitutional principles and the rule of law, and the removal of unelected international actors from both legislative and executive spheres. The only solution lies in dialogue between legally and legitimately elected political representatives chosen and elected by the people. The will of voters must be respected — just as it is in all other countries — including this formation known as BiH. Anything else will lead BiH into ruin,” Pajić-Baštinac concluded.