Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik was sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday and ordered to step down from his role as president of the country's Serb-dominated region for six years for defying orders of an international peace envoy.

Bosnian officials are challenging a set of laws barring the state judiciary and police from operating in the part of the country controlled by the Bosnian Serbs, legislation that has fueled tensions i

Bosnia's international high representative Christian Schmidt on Saturday threw his support behind a court ruling striking down separatist laws passed by the country's Serb statelet.

The court said that implementation of these laws before it makes its final ruling on their constitutionality would have "serious and unavoidable consequences."