A first attempt to arrest Milorad Dodik, the separatist leader of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska, failed on April 23 as the entity’s police did not allow their state-level colleagues to do their job. 

Bosnia’s state court has issued arrest warrants for Dodik, Republika Srpska’s Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and the parliament speaker Nenad Stevandic for violating of state constitution. Dodik has also been sentenced to one year in prison and received a six-year ban on holding any public functions.

On April 23, representatives of the State Investigation and Police Agency (SIPA) surrounded the building of Republika Srpska’s government where Dodik had a meeting.

SIPA inspectors tried to serve the arrest warrant to Dodik, but after a verbal confrontation with members of the entity’s Ministry of Interior, they were forced to withdraw.

“I can confirm that SIPA officers were at the Administrative Center of the Government of Republika Srpska in East Sarajevo, in connection with the execution of an order from the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the non-compliance with a decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH. We attempted to execute the order, but SIPA officers were prevented by the RS Ministry of Interior,” Jelena Miovcic, a spokesperson for SIPA, told N1 news outlet.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Dodik accused SIPA of breaking the law by trying to arrest him within Republika Srpska. 

“This is Republika Srpska, and SIPA broke the law. I feel good and safe. I have no intention of leaving this facility under pressure,” he wrote. 

"The Republika Srpska police will not back down from any challenge when it comes to defending institutions and the Constitution. Sarajevo is trying to deepen the crisis with lies and lead to a greater escalation of the situation, which it will not succeed in doing.”