Eleven members of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed criminal charges against Mladen Filipović, the head of the Representation of the Republika Srpska in Austria, and other persons who call for, encourage or prepare the independence of the Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina – Milorad Dodik, Nenad Stevandić, Radovan Višković and others. The subject of the criminal report is the consulting contract signed by the head of the RS Representation in Austria with the Canadian lobbying agency “Dickens & Madson” in September of last year, the ultimate goal of which is the independence of the Republika Srpska.
Eleven members of the SDP, NIP and Our Party filed criminal charges due to suspicions that the accused – Filipović, Dodik, Stevandić and Višković – committed an attack on the constitutional order, endangering the territorial integrity, giving a reward for influence peddling, aiding and abetting.
“Due to the disputed lobbying contract, a criminal complaint against Filipović and N.N. was also submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Esad Jaganjac. Three million dollars were paid to the Canadian agency for lobbying with foreign governments and international institutions, and an additional million dollars is foreseen in the annex. The contract states, among other things, that the ultimate goal is the independence of Republika Srpska, the removal of Christian Schmidt from the position of high representative and the lifting of sanctions against Dodik and his associates”, explained the submission of the report. SDP in PD PSBiH Saša Magazinović.
“From the very content of the contract it is clear that the object and ultimate goal of the contracted activities directly negates the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its sovereignty and territorial integrity. These people must be stopped”, according to the applicant of the criminal report, Esad Jaganjac.
“Eventually, it could be a criminal offense from that group of criminal offences, but in the phase of preparation and incitement to the commission of that criminal offence. In order for a crime to be committed, an action must be carried out,” said professor of constitutional law Nurko Pobrić.
Constitutional law expert Milan Blagojević says that it is not forbidden to defend the Republika Srpska with its money from attackers who would destroy it, but without any indication in the treaty about the independence of the Republika Srpska as the ultimate goal. Abuse of official position, says Blagojević, is doing it for the private benefit of an individual.
“The contract was concluded when Milorad Dodik did not have any public function. Despite this, the contract contracts benefits for Dodik, and all of this is paid for with money from the budget of the Republika Srpska, which is an abuse of official position by those in the Government of the Republika Srpska who, by virtue of their function, made it possible. But public prosecutors are silent on all this,” claims constitutional law expert Milan Blagojević.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković, asked the Chief Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina to prosecute the signatories of the disputed contract.
“According to the constitution, Republika Srpska cannot spend budget money on what is not the entity’s constitutional competence. According to the constitution, foreign policy is not the entity’s competence,” Konaković said.
The head of the Representation of the Republic of Srpska in Austria, Mladen Filipović, briefly told BHRT that he cannot comment on the criminal complaint until he receives all the necessary information.