Bosnia's autonomous Serb region passed legislation barring the national police and judiciary from its territory after a state court banned its separatist leader Milorad Dodik from politics for six years and sentenced him to a year in prison.

President of Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) Milorad Dodik gestures as Bosnian Serbs protest against the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica which is to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in early May, in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, April 18, 2024. REUTERS/Amel Emric

But the Bosnian-Serb leader Milorad Dodik made light of the verdict at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The president of the country's majority-Serb Republika Srpska region told supporters at a rally in the regional capital Banja Luka there was "no reason to worry".