Bosnian prosecutors have ordered the detention of three top Bosnian Serb officials over a series of separatist actions in recent weeks that have heightened tensions in the Balkan country.

Bosnian Serbs passed the disputed laws after a Bosnian court convicted Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russia president of the Serb-run entity in Bosnia called Republika Srpska. Dodik was sentenced last month in absentia to a year in prison and a six-year ban from public office for his separatist moves.

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