Bosnia-Herzegovina's Prosecutor's Office has issued arrest warrants for Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and other leaders of the country's Serb entity, Republika Srpska, for ignoring a court summons and "threatening the constitutional order," a move the nationalist politician dismissed as politically motivated.
Prosecutors said on March 12 warrants were also issued for the entity's prime minister, Radovan Viskovic, and parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic.
The furor around Dodik has ignited a major political crisis in the EU membership hopeful, which is often referred to as the world's most complex democracy.
Speaking to reporters in the regional capital, Banja Luka, Dodik repeated he would not respond to any summons for questioning, accusing the court and the Prosecutor's Office of heading up an "inquisition."
SEE ALSO: Srebrenica Genocide Center Closes Citing Security Fears As Dodik Defies Government"We will not respond.... If they think the solution is to see Dodik in handcuffs, that is their perogative, but that does not mean they can do it. I will do my job and I will never leave Republika Srpska," Dodik said at a press conference
The arrest warrants were issued on the same day Republika Srpska's parliament was scheduled to discuss a draft constitution that seeks to redefine the entity's official status as a state of the Serbian people, grant it the right to self-determination, and establish its own army.
It also would abolish Republika Srpska's Council of Peoples, which oversees decisions made by Bosnia's parliament and has a veto right.
Zeljko Dragojevic, director of the Republika Srpska Court Police, said his team neither received nor could receive the order to arrest the entity's leadership, as this falls under the jurisdiction of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) and the federal Court Police.
Since the Dayton peace agreement, which was signed in 1995 and ended the war in Bosnia, the country has consisted of the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the ethnic Serb-dominated Republika Srpska under a weak central government.
While Republika Srpska can pass laws on internal matters, state-level laws and institutions remain supreme according to the constitution.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) oversees the implementation of civilian aspects of Dayton. Dodik, who is currently under US and U.K. sanctions for actions that Western governments say are aimed at the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia, has refused to implement several orders from the OHR.
SEE ALSO: EU Calls Republika Srpska Law On 'Foreign Agents' A 'Backward Step'Adopting a draft constitution would mark another secessionist move by the entity's authorities. This follows the recent enforcement of laws prohibiting the operation of the federal judicial and investigative bodies within Republika Srpska territory.
The crisis in Bosnia has been deepening for weeks after Dodik was sentenced in late February to one year in prison and a six-year ban on political activities for disregarding the decisions of the OHR.
Dodik signed into law on March 5 the laws adopted by the entity's parliament that banned the operation of federal judicial and investigative institutions in the entity.
Two days later, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina temporarily suspended the laws, ruling they violated the constitution. Dodik, however, declared the laws would be enforced despite the court's decision.
The recent developments in Republika Srpska have sparked widespread international condemnation.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and various foreign embassies in Bosnia have expressed concern over the situation.