The police in Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Republika Srpska arrested Milan Milicevic, the leader of the opposition Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), on June 9. 

The SDS is one of three parties expected to replace Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik’s SNSD in Bosnia’s state-level ruling coalition. It was seen as an attack by Dodik on his rivals, as the SNSD controls all institutions in the entity.

The arrest was confirmed by Republika Srpska’s prosecutor’s office in a statement. Milicevic, along with two other party members, are accused of taking bribes.

According to the prosecution, Milicevic and the other two party members are suspected of receiving BAM250,000 (€125,000) for alleged influence trading. In return for the money, they are accused of changing the majority on the city council in Teslic.

"He did not buy a councillor, nor did he commit a criminal offence, just as he did not commit criminal offences in the previous two trials of the affairs that were packaged against him. They can plant, invent, pack, do whatever they want, but neither will they break him, nor will they break us," Aleksandra Pandurevic, a member of the SDS presidency, said in a statement posted on the party’s website on June 9.

She added that what the regime is doing to Milicevic was proof of how unscrupulous the people around Dodik are and how immersed they are in dictatorship.

"They have stolen billions, they are buying people as if they are in a market, and of course they are bothered by someone they could never buy or control,” she claimed.

Milicevic’s arrest sparked protests by members of the SDS and other Bosnian Serbs, who gathered to support the party leader in front of his home where the police carried out raids for several hours.

"This is not a process of justice, but the liquidation of a defender of freedom and a fighter against the regime," SDS presidency member Zelimir Neskovic noted.

He added that the arrest was part of a broader strategy to silence the opposition.

The SDS called on its supporters to gather in front of the specialised prosecution on June 10 to support Milicevic.