Dodik asks Bosnian court to replace prison sentence with fine

Dodik asks Bosnian court to replace prison sentence with fine

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik formally asked the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday to replace his one-year prison sentence with a fine.

Dodik, president of the Republika Srpska entity, was sentenced in February to a year in prison and banned from holding office for six years. The appeals court upheld his sentence this month.

The one-year prison sentence can be replaced with a fine under the Bosnian legal system.

According to the Bosnian Criminal Code, a day in prison costs 50 euros. Dodik will pay about 18.000 euros in a year.

Although Dodik has repeatedly said that he does not accept the court’s decision, the request to convert the sentence into a fine shows that he has accepted the decision.

Dodik was convicted of disrespecting the decisions of the High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After his conviction was confirmed, on Wednesday the Central Election Commission stripped him of his mandate as president of the Serbian entity, paving the way for early elections for the president of Republika Srpska.

Dodik, who has the support of Moscow, responded to the Central Commission by saying that he will hold a referendum in Republika Srpska on his mandate, even though the Bosnian Constitution does not provide for the possibility of holding referendums in the entities. /REL/