Kosovo special prosecutor charges politician Fatmir Limaj with war crimes News
Kosovo special prosecutor charges politician Fatmir Limaj with war crimes

The Special Prosecution of the Republic of Kosovo [official website] filed an indictment Friday charging politician Fatmir Limaj with war crimes [press release]. The charges have been levied because of the murder of two civilians, Ramiz Hoxha and Selman Binishi, who were executed in October 1998 in the village Kravasari. Limaj was a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) [Britannica backgrounder] during 1998 and as commander of Brigade 121, would have been responsible to prevent or stop the murders.

In January a special court being was set up in The Hague to investigate and try alleged war crimes committed during 1998-99 [JURIST report]. In July 2015 11 Kosovo Albanian men were sentenced [JURIST report] to prison for war crimes. In February 2014 Serbia’s war crimes court convicted [JURIST report] nine former paramilitaries for their involvement in the genocide of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999. Two former Serbian secret service officials were arrested [JURIST report] under suspicion that they planned the 1999 killing of an anti-government journalist. In 2013 Amnesty International accused [JURIST report] the UN Mission in Kosovo of failing to adequately investigate war crimes committed during the conflict. Kosovo held its first local elections [JURIST report] in November 2013 since it seceded from Serbia in 2008. Serbia still does not recognize the secession.