The Republic of Kosovo Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the acquittal of current Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Limaj on war crimes charges.

Limaj had been accused of committing war crimes during the Kosovo War in 1998. At the time, Limaj served as a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The accusation claimed that Limaj, as commander, did not do enough to stop the murder of two ethnic Albanians citizens by members of the KLA.

The appeals court found no error in the acquittal verdict because no substantive evidence was presented against Limaj.

The EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia previously attempted to convict Limaj of war crimes against Serbs and Albanians supporting Serbian rule of Kosovo. Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008.