Dodikov (Ne) Extrover: Legal view of the Warrant for the President of the Republika Srpska – Region

This news provoked great interest in public part of the public despite its primary interest in reporting on current student protests and civil protests in Serbia.

By announcing, this warrant in an already otherwise legal and politically intricate situation in BiH, it would come up with new issues with possible additional dramatic political implications and potentially incompatible consequences.

For the authorities, however,, however, are the most important three such possible issues at this time:

– Are the conditions for announcing an international warrant?
– What are the obligations in that warrant with Serbia?
– Could Serbia have to extradite Dodik to BiH authorities if he found himself in Serbia?

Let’s go in a row.

The procedure for announcing interpoles « red » warrant is decorated by Interpol’s data processing regulations. Within this procedure, two conditions must be met in order to be issued by a « red » warrant.

The first condition refers to that in question must be a difficult crime.

Namely, the red warrant may be announced for criminal offenses that cause custom or cultural norms, as well as due to violation of administrative laws or acts (unless it is related to some serious crime or if there is any doubt that it is associated with organized crime).

The second condition applies to the amount of the threatened penalty.

If the issuance of the warrant is requested to be tried to the requested person, for this criminal offense, for which it shall be tried for at least two years in prison or severe punishment.

If the warrant is issued to give the requested person to serve the prison sentence, it must be finally sentenced to at least six months in prison.

In addition to these conditions, with a proposal for the issuance of a narrower warrant must be forwarded and necessary documentation from cases related to which its issuance is requested.

The documentation must be contained in the fact of the fact of the requested person described, the indented act of the criminal offense, a possible maximum punishment for this work, as well as the Court’s arrest warrant for which « Red Warrant » is required.

Prior to the publication of the warrant, the Interpol General Secretariat is obliged to check the compliance of the requested warrants with Articles 2 and 3 Interpol’s Constitution.

These members prohibit any intervention or activity that has political, military, religious or racial character.

If the Secretary-General, after the proceedings, the « red » warrant for Milorad Dodik, Serbian police would be obliged to act on it.

This obligation would primarily involve the country’s notification to whose request was issued, the state bodies « found » Dodik in Serbia, as well as taking all other indispensable steps necessary for monitoring and limiting the requested person – including its temporary detention.

After receiving the notice of the invention of the requested person, the requested request will deliver all data and documentation necessary to initiate extradition procedures within 18 days from the day of receipt of the notice that the requested person is in temporary detention.

This leads us to a key question: would Serbia have to extradite Dodik to BiH authorities if it is formally requested through the Interpol Secretariat?

In short: probably.

As it has repeatedly highlighted in public addresses of state officials, Dodik as a citizen of the Republic of Serbia, as the Law on International Legal Aid in criminal matters forbids it – even if the state is requested by extradition!

But: what is being silent in the domestic public is that this law only applies if the matter of extradition is not regulated by a confirmed international agreement between the two countries or if an issue is regulated by that contract. Such a contract occurs between the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and dates back to 2013. years.

The contract was determined by the conditions under which the signatory countries allow extradition to another state of own citizens – whose fulfillment is determined by the Court.

In addition to the crimes of organized crime, corruption and money laundering, it is allowed for criminal offenses for which the sentence of at least 5 years or severe punishment is prescribed.

However, the only reason for this seemingly simple question is not only « yes » is that there are certain hugs, or call it in the case of Dodik and Serbia « exit strategy » that would otherwise simple procedure could do far more uncertain.

The key such crash could be the possibly opening of the investigation against Dodik regarding some criminal parties committed on the territory of Serbia.

The Taka’s investigation would represent the « exit strategy » for its indiscernation of BiH – at least until that criminal proceedings in Serbia end.

Shopping Villa in Dedinje, for which Dodik is already being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it could be precisely that legal basis for rejection of requests for extradition, for several reasons.

The first and basic is that the consequence of that crime performed on the territory of Serbia, as a result of which Serbia had priority in prosecution in the prosecution.

The second is that other actors from Same of Serbia, which includes the center of their life activities and business interests, potentially involved in this work.

Their actions in relation to this purchase could, observed either individually and in whole, have elements of several other crimes – which is a special story to be considered to be someone else.

The author is a lawyer from Belgrade

The text was originally published on the website Forum for safety and democracy