Bosnian Serbs Retreat In Corruption Probe Feud

Serb Republic Prime Minister Milorad Dodik had refused to hand over the documents and accused prosecutors and judges of bias against Serbs.

Bosnia's Serb Republic backed down on Wednesday from a fight that could have tested the country's fragile stability by handing over documents sought in a corruption probe, its justice minister said.

European and American prosecutors working in Bosnia's state court are seeking documents on contracts for a lavish 110 million euro ($140 million) government building in the Serb Republic capital Banja Luka, as well as a local highway, police sources and diplomats said.

Serb Republic Prime Minister Milorad Dodik had refused to hand over the documents and accused prosecutors and judges of bias against Serbs. This week his government said it would file charges against a U.S. envoy and the prosecutors over the probe.

"In response to the request of the state prosecutor, the documents about the government administrative centre in Banja Luka were handed over to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA)," Justice Minister Dzerard Selman told reporters.

The row has turned into a major test of Bosnia's stability 13 years after the end of a war in which 100,000 people were killed in Europe's worst fighting since World War Two.

Dodik, the leader of the Serb region that makes up Bosnia along with the Muslim-Croat federation, has pushed hard for greater autonomy since he came in power in 2006.

Even as he said he would turn over the corruption probe documents, Serb Republic Justice Minister Selman said his government had lodged a complaint saying the state court did not have jurisdiction to probe the deals.

Selman said the government had decided to set up an expert team to determine whether there was any abuse of power by prosecutors.

"If there were any abuse, we will file criminal charges against the judges and prosecutors," he said, sounding less certain than Dodik did a few days ago that charges would indeed be filed.

Over the weekend, Dodik accused U.S. diplomat Raffi Gregorian, the international Deputy High Representative in Bosnia, of plotting against his government along with prosecutors, judges and some journalists and civic activists but did not specify the charges.

The announcement of looming criminal charges prompted harsh reaction by Bosnia's top peace envoy Miroslav Lajcak, who said this week that Dodik was "making a mockery of the rule of law."

Bosnia state court prosecutors are also probing deals with a Russian investor who acquired the Brod oil refinery and a joint venture with Czech power group CEZ, sources said.