Bosnian Serb leader Dodik vows to defy political ban

SARAJEVO, Aug 01 (AFP): The separatist president of the Serb part of Bosnia vowed to defy a court ruling banning him from political office for six years on Friday and said he would seek help from both Russia and US President Donald Trump.
Milorad Dodik was responding to a ruling by Bosnia’s appeals court upholding a sentence handed down to him for defying the orders of the international peace envoy, whose role is to prevent multi-ethnic Bosnia sliding back into civil war.
Dodik told reporters he would continue to go to work.
“I do not accept the verdict,” he told reporters. “I will seek help from Russia and I will write a letter to the US administration.”
He said he would ask his associates not to communicate with ambassadors from the European Union, which has a peacekeeping force in Bosnia to ensure stability that has deployed reserve forces over the crisis.
The sentence, handed down to Dodik in February for defying the Constitutional Court as well as the peace envoy, included a one-year prison term that under Bosnia’s legal system can possibly be exchanged for a fine.