ASHDOWN'S ABUSE OF AUTHORITY

BIJELJINA, JUNE 29 /SRNA/ – On June 30, 2004, High Representative for BiH Paddy Ashdown removed Dragan Kalinić from the post of Speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, along with Interior Minister Zoran Đerić and 57 other government and political officials, directors and administrative employees.

He also added 13 more individuals to a "blacklist" on suspicion of supporting war crimes indictees and ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of three individuals and 60 municipal boards of the Serb Democratic Party /SDS/.

Through the imposition of hundreds of decisions and the dismissal of Serb officials at all levels of government, Ashdown sought to fundamentally alter the Dayton Peace Accords. He later annulled the Law on Pardons, arguing that it "undermined the rule of law".

Ashdown was widely criticized by Republika Srpska officials for what they described as biased and anti-Serb conduct in BiH. During his four-year mandate, he imposed 430 decisions that they consider unlawful and unconstitutional.

On a single day in July 2004, he dismissed 59 Serb officials who had been duly elected to office.

According to the same criticism, Ashdown also warned the European Union that, if Serbia were to join the bloc before BiH, it should "prevent Serbs from Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH from using Serbian passports until BiH also accedes to the EU".

Documents released by the UK National Archives, the report states, show that Ashdown was well informed about events during the war in BiH but did not act on that knowledge.