BUBIĆ: THE GOAL WAS TO PREVENT DODIK FROM PERFORMING DUTIES OF PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 4 /SRNA/ - The ultimate goal of the verdict against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, was to prohibit him from performing his official duties, said Goran Bubić, the president’s attorney, announcing that a request for a temporary injunction would be submitted to influence its enforcement.

"That was the primary goal of the criminal proceedings, along with the humiliation of the Republika Srpska Constitution," Bubić told reporters in Banja Luka, adding that the legal team would contest the decision. He stated that the verdict against the President of the Republic, Milorad Dodik, was based on so-called notorious facts, even though such a concept is not recognized in the legal system. He added that this case could not have resulted in the claim that it involved notorious facts, as asserted in the second-instance ruling. “That concept is recognized in the Law on Civil Procedure. However, this is a very demanding process. Criminal proceedings have their own rules, and civil proceedings have theirs. Any human activity in this case involves issues of appointment and the Bonne powers, which cannot be considered notorious facts,” Bubić explained. He added that in this case, such facts must be proven, and that it is not a natural disaster or a historical event. “It is unacceptable for this not to be demonstrated during the proceedings. Any human activity is subject to proof if challenged by the opposing party,” Bubić stated. He stated that the issue of Christian Schmidt’s appointment has been transferred into the realm of a legal question, and that such a procedure is part of the legal process. “Before assessing whether something was lawful, we must first determine whether it happened as a fact of life,” Bubić emphasized. Regarding retroactivity in this case, Bubić stated that the primary response to the defense’s appeal was based on the notion that we live in an information age where everyone is aware of what is happening. “Although they consider what Schmidt imposed to be domestic law, they say that the procedure of adopting the law cannot be the subject of review in the proceedings, even though it involves the question of how that law was adopted. This is ignored, and it is said that it was well known because it was public,” Bubić said. He added that during that period, before the publication, there was no mention of a protective measure banning the performance of official duties. The Appeals Chamber of the Court of BiH previously upheld the first-instance verdict against the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, sentencing him to one year in prison and imposing a six-year ban on political activity "for not complying with the decisions of Christian Schmidt."