Dragan Lukac

Davor Dragicevic's lawyer, Dragan Tolimir, confirmed to BIRN that he had received the Banja Luka prosecution's decision to discontinue the investigation against him on September 8.

Dragicevic himself said the decision meant little to him, as it has come after a three-year delay. "As far as I am concerned, the decision means nothing to me," he said.

The trial in absentia of Davor Dragicevic began on Tuesday in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka on charges of slandering three senior police officers with comments accusing them of wrongdoing in the investigation into the death of his son David.

The government of the Republika Srpska issued a decree on Thursday that forbids causing "panic and disorder" during a state of emergency, Interior Minister Dragan Lukac told a press conference.

Bosnian officials fear the crisis on the Greek-Turkish border could create more problems for the country, which is already struggling to handle growing numbers of migrants.

A shortage of border guards may be hampering Bosnia's ability to stop migrants from illegally entering the country, officials say.

The rulebook on its internal organisation says the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina should have 2,426 officers, but currently has only 2,038, which is 388 less, Franka Vican, a spokeswoman for the state border police, told BIRN.

Several thousand people gathered in Banja Luka, the administrative centre of Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity, Republika Srpska, RS, on Thursday night for two rival rallies, one a protest against the RS authorities and the other a counter-protest in support of RS institutions.

The Assembly of Republika Srpska had endorsed Dodik's interpretation that a document called the "Reform Program" adopted by the BiH Presidency on November 19th does not mean consent to continue BiH's accession to NATO, but merely a plan of measures to be implemented in terms of establishing co-operation with this military alliance.

Opposition lawmakers in Bosnia's Republika Srpska called for the resignation of the entity's interior minister after he slapped an opposition MP on Monday during a debate on Bosnia's future relationship with NATO.

In his first television appearance on Wednesday evening since he went into hiding on December 30, Davor Dragicevic accused the authorities in Republika Srpska of seeking to kill him, after daily protests over the death of his 21-year-old son sparked widespread public anger in Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity.

Protesters marched once again on Sunday in Banja Luka, the main city in Bosnia's mainly Serbian entity, Republika Srpska.

David's father, Davor Dragicevic, told the protest that he would not leave Banja Luka's main square until his requests are met.