The trial of Milorad Dodik, the President of the Republika Srpska entity, is set to commence on Monday, October 16, according to an announcement from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Court made on Tuesday.

In August, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed charges against Dodik and Miloš Lukić, the director of the official newspaper of the Republika Srpska, for their failure to implement decisions made by the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt.

These charges were later amended and confirmed on September 11.

In their defense, the legal representatives of Dodik and Lukić argued that “the alleged criminal act for which Dodik is accused does not exist, as Schmidt’s authority is questionable”.

On October 9, the BiH Court confirmed to Radio Free Europe that it had rejected the defense’s objections as unfounded.

The defense had submitted two requests for the removal of Judge Jasmina Dedović Cosić, who initially confirmed the charges but later dismissed the objections.

In June, the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska passed laws related to the non-publication of decisions made by the High Representative and the non-implementation of decisions issued by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

High Representative Schmidt subsequently annulled these laws.

Dodik signed a decree to enforce these laws, and Lukić published them in the Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska.

When he annulled the Republika Srpska law, Schmidt made changes to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, introducing the provision that non-compliance with decisions of the High Representative constitutes a criminal offense.