France refuses extradition of former Kosovo PM Haradinaj to Serbia

Colmar, France | Tirana Echo – The Court of Appeal in Colmar, France has released former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, refusing his extradition to Serbia after a former request by Belgrade on war crimes charges.

Haradinaj, 48, the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrilla commander and later prime minister, who now heads an opposition party AAK, was arrested on January 4 by French authorities following an extradition request by Serbia based on war crimes during the 1999 resistance of Albanian rebel group KLA against Serbia’s army and paramilitary groups charged to ethnically cleanse Kosovo’s predominant ethnic Albanian population.

Surrounded by ethnic Albanian supporters outside the court in Colmar this morning, Haradinaj said this decision is a victory of Albanians against Serbia and the he would return back to Kosovo within tonight. Celebrations have started in his home Kosovo to welcome the former KLA commander back.

Haradinaj has twice been acquitted by the Hague-based court for the former Yugoslavia of committing war crimes during the 1998-99 Kosovo conflict. However Serbian officials insist that they have evidence that he was involved in other war crimes for which he has not yet been prosecuted.

Serbian authorities say he is suspected of the murders of civilians, including the killing of a two-week-old baby, torture, and the rape of a minor.They have also threatened to retaliate if Paris does not send him to Belgrade. Haradinaj’s arrest at a French airport after he flew in from Kosovo last month heightened tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.

It also sparked protests by Albanians both inside and outside Kosovo, who regard Haradinaj as a war hero in the KLA resistance against Serbian paramilitary forces. Kosovo and Albania have called for his release and condemned the arrest as a political act.

The French court released Haradinaj on bail on January 12, but ordered him to remain in the country under judicial supervision while the authorities consider whether to send him to Serbia to face trial.