Republika Srpska Leader Questioned Over Banned Referendum – BiH Prosecution

The president of Bosnia and Herzegovina's autonomous Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, was questioned on Friday for holding a referendum in violation of a ruling of the country's Constitutional Court, the Bosnian prosecutor’s office said on Friday.

BELGRADE (Sputnik) – Dodik is accused of organizing a referendum on celebrating the Republika Srpska Day, which violated the Constitutional Court’s decision that banned the vote.

"Suspect Dodik is under investigation over links to criminal non-compliance with the decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina," Boris Grubesic, press secretary of the Bosnian prosecutor’s office, said.

Republika Srpska is one of the two autonomous entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the other is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their relations are largely affected by the civil war among Serbs, Bosnian Muslims and Croatians in 1992-1995.

Republika Srpska does not agree to celebrate the national day of Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 1, for on that day in 1992 the Bosnian parliament proclaimed the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina without the presence of Bosnian Serbs.