SARAJEVO, April 23 – Bosnia’s state police, SIPA, on Wednesday tried to arrest Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik who is wanted for attacking the constitutional order but were stopped by his armed police forces, a SIPA spokeswoman said.

The state court issued an arrest warrant for Dodik, the president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic, and two of his close allies after they ignored a summons in the investigation of the separatist legislation they initiated and which has been suspended by the constitutional court.

Despite the arrest warrant, Dodik continued with his activities and traveled across the Serb-dominated region protected by heavily armed members of the region’s police antiterrorist forces.

On Wednesday, he arrived in the town of East Sarajevo, bordering the capital Sarajevo, where the State Investigation and Protection Agency headquarters are located.

“The SIPA officers today tried to execute the court’s order and arrest Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik in East Sarajevo,” spokeswoman Jelena Miovcic told Reuters.

“They talked to the members of the RS police who warned them they will use the force and so prevented them from executing the orders.”

A Reuters reporter did not see any SIPA officers in front of a government office in East Sarajevo, where Dodik arrived with his entourage, only the members of the Serb Republic police.

Dodik initiated Bosnia’s biggest political crisis since the end of the country’s war in the 1990s after he was sentenced in February to one year in prison and banned from politics for six years over defying rulings by the international envoy, whose role is to prevent multi-ethnic Bosnia from slipping back into conflict.

The dispute pits Dodik and his allies Russia and Serbia against the United States and the European Union.

Last month, the court ordered an international arrest warrant to be issued for Dodik and his aide after they went abroad in defiance of an internal arrest warrant, but Interpol declined its “red notice” request.

A long-time advocate of secession from Bosnia, Dodik had initiated legislation barring the state judiciary and police from operating in the Serb region, but Bosnia’s constitutional court temporarily suspended that.

The United States and the United Kingdom sanctioned Dodik for violating the terms of a peace deal that ended the country’s 1992-1995 war.

Earlier this month, Germany and Austria announced they will bar Dodik and his two aides from their territories, accusing him of threatening the security of his fragile country and the region.

REUTERS

SARAJEVO – A protest convoy of 543 trucks paraded through the streets of Sarajevo on Monday, demanding policy changes affecting Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH)’s road transport sector.

Organized by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Logistics Consortium under the slogan “Enough is enough!”, the protest highlighted industry frustration with the EU’s 90/180 rule, which limits drivers’ total stay in the Schengen Area to no more than 90 days in every 180 days, including transit periods.

The convoy route passed through major city avenues, ending with a symbolic turn at BiH Square. Organizers said the action reflected widespread dissatisfaction after 14 months of unanswered appeals.

Velibor Peulic, general coordinator of the Consortium, which includes 610 transport companies, said that they need a two-year moratorium on the 90/180 rule, fuel excise refunds, reduced border wait time through digitalization, and lower transport costs.

Peulic noted that this was their first formal meeting with the country’s Minister of Communications and Transport to discuss key demands, after months of silence from the authorities.

He warned that further actions would follow if authorities fail to respond by Friday.

XINHUA