Reuters - Balkan Insight - Radio Free Europe:

REFERENDUM - Namjera

Skupština Republike Srpske, bosanskog entiteta sa srpskom većinom, izglasala je u srijedu da se održi referendum o povjerenju u državni sudski sistem i autoritet Visokog predstavnika u Bosni. Od 76 prisutnih poslanika 45 je glasalo za dok je njih 31 bilo suzdržano. Referendum će se održati sredinom septembra. Glasači će se pitati da li podržavaju “antiustavne i neovlaštene zakone koje je nametnuo visoki predstavnik međunarodne zajednice, posebno zakone koji se odnose na Sud i Tužilaštvo Bosne i Hercegovine”.

16.07.2015.

Reuters - Balkan Insight - Radio Free Europe:

REFERENDUM - Intent

The assembly of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, has voted on Wednesday to hold a referendum on confidence in the country's state justice system and in the authority of High Representative to Bosnia. Out of 76 deputies present, 45 voted in favor while 31 abstained. The referendum will be held in mid-September. Voters will be asked whether they support the “anti-constitutional and unauthorized laws imposed by the High Representative of the international community, especially the laws imposed relating to the Court and the Prosecutor's office of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

16.07.2015.

Bosanski Srbi traže referendum o sudu što predstavlja izazov bosanskoj državi

Lider bosanskih Srba Milorad Dodik pozvao je u utorak na referendum o vlastima bosanskog nacionalnog suda nad etničkim Srbima, izazivajući integritet zemlje dvije decenije nakon što je izašla iz rata.

Dodik je zatražio od zakonodavaca u autonomnoj Republici Srpskoj da podrže referendum, uz tvrdnju da je sud pun predrasuda prema bosanskim Srbima.

Predloženo glasanje uslijedilo je nakon što je u aprilu Dodikova vladajuća SNSD stranka u svoju zvaničnu politiku ugradila zahtjev za referendum o secesiji Republike Srpske u 2018. ako region ne dobije veće ovlasti.

Najnovija inicijativa će povećati zabrinutost na Zapadu što Bosnu izlaže opasnosti 20 godina poslije rata 1992-95. U kome je stradalo 100.000 ljudi.

Republika Srpska I Federacija koju uglavnom čine muslimani Bošnjaci I katolici Hrvati predstavlja poslijeratnu Bosnu, sa slabom centralnom vladom u izuzetno decentralizovanom I glomaznom sistemu etničkih kvota.

Dok Bošnjaci I Hrvati uglavnom žele veću integraciju sa Zapadom, Dodik nastoji da ojača veze saRusijom koja je tradicionalni srpski saveznik.

“Broj optužnica I presuda protiv Srba pred nacionalnim sudom pokazuje nepobitn oselektivan pristup pravdi, I ima za cilj da svu krivicu baci isključivo na srpski narod”, rekao je Dodik na skupštini Republike Srpske.

Strane sile koje nadgledaju mir u Bosni izdale su saopštenje upozoravajući da skupština Republke Srpske može pozvati na referendum samo kad je riječ ‘o pitanjima koja su u okviru njene kompetentnosti’.

Međutim, Rusija, koja je takođe članica Vijeća za implementaciju mira, zajedno sa Sjedinjenim Državama, Evropskom unijom I drugima, nije potpisala saopštenje.

Ljutnja Srba se posebno iskazala prošlog mjeseca kad je Švajcarska odlučila da izruči bošnjačkog ratnog komandanta Nasera Orića Bosni, a ne Srbiji, nakon štoga je švajcarska policija uhapsila po srbijanskoj potjernici za ratne zločine protiv Srba.

Bosna je izjavila da ona void slučaj protiv Orića, što Dodik smatra farsom.

Izvor: Reuters (14.07.2015)

Bosnian Serb seeks court referendum in fresh challenge to Bosnian state

Bosnian Serb leader MiloradDodik pushed on Tuesday for a referendum on the authority of Bosnia’s national court over ethnic Serbs, stepping up a challenge to the country’s integrity two decades after it emerged from war.

Dodik asked lawmakers in the autonomous Serb Republic to back the referendum, arguing the court was biased against Bosnian Serbs.

The proposed vote comes after Dodik’s ruling SNSD party in April made it official party policy to push for a referendum on the Serb Republic’s secession in 2018 unless the region is granted greater powers.

The latest initiative will deepen concern in the West that Bosnia risks unraveling 20 years after a 1992-95 war in which 100,000 people died.

The Serb Republic and a Federation of mainly Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats make up post-war Bosnia, joined by a weak central government in a highly-decentralized and unwieldy system of ethnic quotas.

While the Bosniaks and Croats on the whole want greater integration with the West, Dodik has sought to strengthen ties with traditional Serbian ally Russia.

“The number of indictments and verdicts against the Serbs before the national court proves irrefutably a selective approach to justice, which aims to lay blame exclusively on the Serb people,” Dodik told the Serb Republic parliament.

Foreign powers overseeing the peace in Bosnia issued a statement warning that the Serb Republic parliament may only call referenda “on issues falling within its competence”.

Russia, however, which is also a member of the Peace Implementation Council alongside the United States, European Union and others, did not sign the statement.

Serbs in particular were angered last month after Switzerland decided to extradite Bosniak wartime commander NaserOric to Bosnia, rather than Serbia, after he was arrested by Swiss police on a Serbian warrant for war crimes against Serbs.

Bosnia argued it was pursuing its own case against Oric, which Dodik says is a farce.

Source: Reuters (14.07.2015)

Bosanski Srbi će održati referendum o državnim sudovima

Skupština Republike Srpske, bosanskog entiteta sa srpskom većinom, izglasala je u srijedu da se održi referendum o povjerenju u državni sudski sistem i autoritet Visokog predstavnika u Bosni.

Od 76 prisutnih poslanika 45 je glasalo za dok je njih 31 bilo suzdržano. Referendum će se održati sredinom septembra.

Glasači će se pitati da li podržavaju “antiustavne i neovlaštene zakone koje je nametnuo visoki predstavnik međunarodne zajednice, posebno zakone koji se odnose na Sud i Tužilaštvo Bosne i Hercegovine”.

“Garantujem da će se referendum održati i provesti”, izjavio je predsjednik Republike Srpske Milorad Dodik nakon glasanja.

U svom uvodnom govoru, kad je predložio odluku skupštini, objasnio je važnost referenduma za entitet.

“Radi se o tome da li ćemo nastaviti putem očuvanja ustava i odbrane našeg međunarodnog prava, ili putem degradiranja Republike Srpske”, rekao je Dodik.

Predsjednik bosansih Srba je rekao da ne traže više nego “poštivanje Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma i jasnu razliku između ustavnih prava Bosne i Hercegovine i Republike Srpske”.

Tokom svog govora na skupštini Dodik je govorio o troškovima državnih institucija, rekavši da one Republiku Srpsku koštaju milione eura a rade protiv ustavne pozicije Republike Srpske. Kritikovao je međunarodnu zajednicu zbog uplitanja u ovo.

Tvrdeći da je državno sudstvo protiv interesa Republike Srpske, Dodik je rekao da je odjel za ratne zločine fokusiran uglavnom na suđenje Srbima.

I po njegovim riječima, dok državno tužilaštvo optužuje Srbe za genocid i zločine protiv humanosti po principu komandne odgovornosti, “nekoliko Bošnjaka koji su bili optuženi za ratne zločine osuđeni su za individualne akcije a ne po (principu) komandnoj odgovornosti”.

Dalje je kazao da je Sud Bosne i Hercegovine od svog osnivanja koštao ukupno 130 miliona maraka (66 miliona eura) a Republiku Srpsku 43 miliona maraka (22 miliona eura). “Taj novac je upotrijebljen za lov na ljude u Republici Srpskoj”, ustvrdio je.

Dodik pokreće ideju o održavanju referenduma o ovlastima Ureda visokog predstavnika od 2006., većinom zbog glasanja.

Ovo je došlo nakon hapšenja Nasera Orića, bivšeg komandanta Bosanske armije u Srebrenici, 10. juna u Švajcarskoj, po zahtjevu Srbije.

Međutim, umjesto da ga isporuče Srbiji, Švajcarci su ga isporučili Bosni na zahtjev bosanskih vlasti koje su izjavile da državno tužlištvo već vodi slučaj protiv njega.

Atmosfera u Bosni je bila dodatno podgrijana prošlog mjeseca neuspjehom, zbog veta Rusije, da se u Vijeću sigurnosti UN izglasa rezolucija o Srebrenici i napadom na srbijanskog premijera Aleksandra Vučića u Potočarima gdje je na njega bacano kamenje i boce s vodom.

Dodik je i 2011. pokrenuo sličnu inicijativu o državnom sudstvu, koju su zvaničnici EU osujetili i ispregovarali mirno rješenje započinjući sudsku reformu u Bosni.

Šef delegacije EU u Bosni, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, i diplomati iz SAD, Velike Britanije, Francuske, Njemačke i Italije naglasili su zajedničko protivljenje referendumu.

“Priznajemo i slažemo se da postoje značajni problemi u sistemu suda i tužilaštva u BiH na svim nivoima, uključujući i državni”, rečeno je u zajedničkom saopštenju.

“Duboko smo zabrinuti da će predloženi referendum predstavljati neustavan pokušaj ne da se reformišu nego da se potkopaju i oslabe te vlasti i tako bude direktna prijetnja za suverenitet i sigurnost zemlje u cjelini. Ovo se ne može tolerisati”, dodali su.

Vijeće za implementaciju mira (PIC), u čijem su sastavu ambasadori nekoliko zemalja, takođe su rekli da će najavljeni referendum predstavljati temeljno kršenje mirovnog sporazuma iz 1995. koji je okončao rat u Bosni.

Vukota Govedarica, predstavnik opozicije u skupštini Republike Srpske, rekao je da je Dodikova odluka da se održi referendum paradoksalna pošto je on učestvovao u prihvatanju zakona o uspostavi sudskih institucija u vrijeme kad je želio da bude partner međunarodne zajednice.

Izvor: Balkan Insight (16.07.2015)

Bosnian Serbs to Hold Referendum on State Courts

The assembly of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, has voted on Wednesday to hold a referendum on confidence in the country’s state justice system and in the authority of High Representative to Bosnia.

Out of 76 deputies present, 45 voted in favor while 31 abstained. The referendum will be held in mid-September.

Voters will be asked whether they support the “anti-constitutional and unauthorized laws imposed by the High Representative of the international community, especially the laws imposed relating to the Court and the Prosecutor’s office of Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

“I guarantee that the referendum will be held and conducted,” President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik said after the vote.

In his introductory speech when he proposed the decision to the assembly, he explained the importance of the referendum for the entity.

“This is about whether we are going to go the way of preserving the constitution and defending our international right, or the way of degrading Republika Srpska,” Dodik said.

The Bosnian Serb President said they sought no more than “respect for the Dayton Peace Accords and the clear distinction between the constitutional authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska”.

During his assembly speech, Dodik spoke also about the cost of state institutions, saying they cost Republika Srpska millions of euro but worked against the constitutional position of Republika Srpska. He criticized the international community for its involvement in this.

Arguing that the state judiciary was against the interests of Republika Srpska, Dodik said that the department for war crimes focused mainly on trying Serbs.

Dodik said that while the state prosecution charged Serbs with genocide and crimes against humanity under the principle of command responsibility, “the few Bosniaks that have been charged with war crimes have been indicted for individual actions, and not under [the principle of] command responsibility”.

He went on to say that the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina since its formation had cost 130 million marks [66 million euro] in all and had cost Republika Srpska 43 million marks [22 million euro]. “This money was used for hunting people in Republika Srpska,” he claimed.

Dodik has floated the idea of holding of a referendum on the powers of the Office of the High Representative since 2006, mostly for election purposes.

It comes after the arrest on June 10 in Switzerland on Serbia’s demand of Naser Oric, the former Bosnian Army commander of Srebrenica.

Instead of being extradited to Serbia, however, the Swiss extradited him to Bosnia on the request of the Bosnian authorities who said Bosnia’s state prosecution had a case against him.

The atmosphere in Bosnia has been additionally heated up in the past month by the failed attempt to put a UN resolution on Srebrenica to the Security Council - which Russia vetoed - and by the attack on Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in the town, where stones and water bottles were thrown at him.

Dodik launched a similar initiative about the state judiciary in 2011, which EU officials prevented and negotiated a peaceful resolution by initiating judicial reform in Bosnia.

The head of the EU delegation to Bosnia, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, and diplomats from the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy traveled to Banja Luka on Monday to emphasize their shared opposition to the referendum.

“We recognize and agree that there are significant problems with the court and prosecutorial system in BiH at all levels, including at the state level,” the joint statement said.

“We are deeply concerned that the proposed referendum would represent an unconstitutional attempt not to reform but to undermine and weaken those authorities, and would thus pose a direct threat to the sovereignty and security of the country as a whole. This cannot be tolerated,” they added.

The Peace Implementation Council, PIC, which comprises ambassadors of several foreign countries, also said the announced referendum would represent a fundamental violation of the 1995 peace deal that ended the war in Bosnia.

Vukota Govedarica, an opposition MP in Republika Srpska, said Dodik’s decision to hold a referendum was paradoxical as he took part in the adoption of laws establishing the state judicial institutions back in the time when he wished to be a partner of the international community.

Source: Balkan Insight (16.07.2015)

Bosanski Srbi izglasali referendum protiv državnog suda

Zakonodavci u autonomnoj srpskoj regiji u Bosni izglasali su da se održi referendum o ovlastima državnog suda nad Srbima, i taj potez Zapad vidi kao otvoren izazov za integritet bosanske države.

Uz neznatnu većinu zakonodavci su podržali prijedlog Milorada Dodika, predsjednika Republike Srpske, koji se drznuo da zagovara disoluciju zemlje 20 godina poslije završetka rata.

Glasanje je uslijedilo samo dan nakon što su visoki diplomati u Bosni koji predstavljaju Evropsku uniju i Sjedinjene Države upozorili srpske lidere da bi predloženi referendum bio “direktna prijetnja suverenitetu i sigurnosti” Bosne i da “se ne može tolerisati”.

Američa ambasada u Sarajevu je brzo prokazala glasanje kao djelo “koruptivnih snaga”, upozoravajući da može preduzeti akciju protiv “onih koji su odgovorni za stvaranje ove političke provokacije”.

U aprilu je Dodikova vladajuća partija izjavila da će 2018. zatražiti referendum o secesiji Republike Srpske ukoliko ovaj region ne dobije veće ovlasti, što je pojačalo zabrinutost Zapada da Bosni prijeti rasplet.

U svom obraćanju skupštini Dodik je tvrdio da sud sa sjedištem u Sarajevu nije sklon pravoslavnim Srbima koji u Bosni dijele vlast sa muslimanima Bošnjacima i katolicima Hrvatima. Referendum još mora da prođe gornji dom regionalne skupštine gdje se od muslimana Bošnjaka očekuje da to upute na Ustavni sud.

“Ali bez obzira na to referendum će se održati jer mi gledamo na odluke Ustavnog suda kao na političke a ne pravne”, rekao je Dodik.

Ako do ovog dođe, glasanje će dalje potkopati evropske napore da se potaknu reforme u Bosni. Evropski i američki lideri nastoje da poguraju Bosnu na putu ka integraciji u Evropsku uniju nakon godina ekonomske i političke stagnacije.

Dok Bošnjaci i Hrvati svoju budućnost vide u skoroj integraciji u Zapadnu Evropu, Dodik nastoji da pojača veze sa Rusijom, tradicionalnim saveznikom Srbije.

Značajno je da Rusija nije potpisala saopštenje koje je 14. jula izdalo Vijeće za implementaciju mira u Bosni, u koje su uključene Sjedinjene Države i EU, upozoravajući da će referendum koji su pokrenuli bosanski Srbi biti “temeljno kršenje” Dejtonskog mirovnog sporazuma kojim je okončan rat 1992-95.

Međunarodni nadglednik mira u Bosni, austrijski diplomata Valentin Inzko, ima ovlasti da blokira referendum, koji će se održati u roku od 50 dana od objavljivanja odluke skupštine u Službenom listu.

Izvor: Radio Free Europe (16.07.2015)

Bosnian Serbs Approve Referendum Challenging National Court

Lawmakers in the autonomous Serb region of Bosnia have voted to hold a referendum on the authority of the national court over Serbs, in a move the West says is an open challenge to the integrity of the Bosnian state.

By a slim majority, lawmakers backed the proposal by Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, who has grown increasingly bold in advocating the country’s dissolution 20 years after it emerged from war.

The vote came only a day after top diplomats in Bosnia representing the European Union and United States warned Serb leaders that the proposed referendum would be “a direct threat to the sovereignty and security” of Bosnia that “cannot be tolerated.”

The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo quickly denounced the vote as the work of “corrupt forces,” warning it might take action against “those responsible for creating this political provocation.”

In April, Dodik’s ruling party said it would seek a referendum in 2018 on Republika Srpska’s secession unless the region is granted greater powers, deepening concern in the West that Bosnia risks unraveling.

Addressing parliament, Dodik argued the Sarajevo-based court was biased against Orthodox Serbs, who share power in Bosnia with Muslim Bosniaks and Catholic Croats.

The referendum has still to pass the upper house of the regional parliament, where Muslim Bosniaks are expected to refer it to the Constitutional Court.

“But regardless of that, the referendum will be held because we regard Constitutional Court decisions as political rather than legal,” said Dodik.

If it goes ahead, the vote will further undermine European efforts to encourage reform in Bosnia. European and U.S. leaders have been trying to nudge Bosnia along a path to integration with the European Union after years of economic and political stagnation.

While on the whole Bosniaks and Croats see their future in closer integration with Western Europe, Dodik has been trying to deepen ties with traditional Serbian ally Russia.

Russia notably did not sign a statement issued July 14 by Bosnia’s Peace Implementation Council, which includes the United States and EU, warning that the referendum pushed by Bosnian Serbs would be a “fundamental violation” of the Dayton peace accords that ended the 1992-95 war.

Bosnia’s international peace overseer, Austrian diplomat Valentin Inzko, has the power to block the referendum, which would be held within 50 days of parliament’s decision being published in the Official Gazette.

Source: Radio Free Europe (16.07.2015)

Reuters - Balkan Insight - Radio Free Europe

Reuters - Balkan Insight - Radio Free Europe

Izvor: Reuters (14.07.2015)

Izvor: Balkan Insight (16.07.2015)

Izvor: Radio Free Europe (16.07.2015)

Source: Reuters (14.07.2015)

Source: Balkan Insight (16.07.2015)

Source: Radio Free Europe (16.07.2015)

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