---
title: "Bosnia court issues international arrest warrant for Serb leader Dodik"
description: "SARAJEVO, March 27 (Reuters) - A court in Bosnia has issued an international arrest warrant for Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik who is accused of attacking the constitutional order and has gone abroad in defiance, the court said on Thursday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Milorad Dodik"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-27-bosnia-court-issues-international-arrest-warrant-for-serb-leader-dodik/"
published: "2025-03-27T12:41:18"
updated: "2025-03-27T12:41:20"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 160
---

# Bosnia court issues international arrest warrant for Serb leader Dodik

> SARAJEVO, March 27 (Reuters) - A court in Bosnia has issued an international arrest warrant for Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik who is accused of attacking the constitutional order and has gone abroad in defiance, the court said on Thursday.

By Reuters · Published 27 March 2025, 14:41 SAST · Updated 27 March 2025, 14:41 SAST

## Key points
- In a plot twist worthy of a Balkan drama, Bosnia's Serb Republic president, Milorad Dodik, is dodging justice like a pro, defying a jail sentence and international warrants while attending an antisemitism conference in Israel, all while insisting the whole affair is just a political witch hunt.
- Bosnia's Serb Republic president, Milorad Dodik, faces a major crisis after a one-year jail sentence and a six-year political ban for defying an international peace envoy.
- Dodik's controversial legislation aimed to restrict state judiciary and police operations in the Serb region, but was temporarily suspended by the constitutional court.
- Defying an arrest warrant, Dodik traveled to Serbia and then to Israel for an antisemitism conference, raising tensions further.
- An international warrant has also been issued for Nenad Stevandic, speaker of the Serb Republic parliament, highlighting the escalating political turmoil.

## Content

Dodik, the president of Bosnia's Serb Republic region, has triggered the gravest crisis since a 1990s war after being sentenced for a year in jail and banned from politics for six years over ignoring rulings by an international peace envoy.

Dodik, the pro-Russian long-time advocate of secession from Bosnia, had initiated legislation barring the state judiciary and police from operating in the Serb region, but Bosnia's constitutional court temporarily suspended that.

Defying an internal arrest warrant, he crossed into neighbouring Serbia earlier this week then travelled to Israel for an antisemitism conference in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Bosnia's state court said an international warrant was also issued for Nenad Stevandic, speaker of the Serb Republic parliament who had travelled to Serbia though is now back in Bosnia. The warrants are with the international police Interpol, the court said in a statement.

Dodik says the accusations against him are meaningless as they are politically motivated.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)