Kosovo MP Limaj Questioned in War Crimes Case

Limaj was questioned as part of an operation by officers from the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, and Kosovo police on Wednesday, in which they arrested twelve persons on suspicion of committing war crimes during the 1999 conflict.

Local media said those arrested are former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.

Limaj surrendered to EULEX after he was notified that the mission had issued an arrest warrant. After he was questioned, Limaj was released, while six persons were ordered into detention on remand for 30 days.

Prior to meeting with the prosecutor, Limaj declined comment on the charges and told journalists: “This is a job for justice bodies and I will be at their full disposal.”

The twelve persons are suspected of participating in the torture of Serb and Albanian civilians and keeping them in inhuman conditions in Kleqke village.

Limaj, considered a hero of the Kosovo Liberation Army, is suspected of ordering and participating in the inhuman torture of Serb and Albanian civilians held in Kleqke camp in Malisevo municipality.

Pristina daily newspaper Zeri reports that Limaj is suspected of ‘torturing a Serb military person who was a prisoner, who was held in Kleqke and found in a mass grave’.

Zeri also reports that Limaj, in cooperation with other suspects, ordered the ‘execution of two prisoners’.  

Kosovo media reported that one of the persons arrested on Wednesday was detained in Switzerland, an individual of Kosovar origin.

Nexhmi Krasniqi, head of the police station in the southern Kosovo town of Prizren, was also among those arrested. Krasniqi surrendered to the EULEX officers two hours after they attempted to arrest him but were blocked by Kosovo policemen.  

Limaj, who remains a popular figure in Kosovo, has already faced a war crimes trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY.

He was charged, along with Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala, with committing war crimes against Serbs and Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbia during the Kosovo war.

In November 2005 he was acquitted and returned home to a hero’s welcome, with street celebrations in the capital, Pristina.

Limaj is also suspected by EULEX of corruption, and the mission raided the ministry of transport in April last year during his tenure as minister. The probe relates to road tenders issued between 2007 and 2009.