Fatmir Limaj, is a politician from Kosovo. He is the leader of Nisma për Kosovën. Limaj served as Minister of Transport and Telecommunication in the government of the Republic of Kosova. He was known as “Çeliku” during the Yugoslav wars.
Biography
Fatmir Limaj is a politician from Banjë, a village in Malishevë, Kosovo. During the 1999 Kosovo War, Limaj was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army, in the Lapušnik area. His alias was Çeliku. After the war he was one of the founders of what is now Kosovo's largest political party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo. After his indictment, which he was freed from in 2007, he has returned to politics. After a two-year serve at the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, Limaj was considered to be the most successful minister in the history of Kosovo. In the elections held in December 2010 he was third most voted leader in the whole country but he decided not to be part of the government. Limaj was charged of another war crime case by European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, he was held for seven months in the house arrest and on 21 March the Court declared all statements of witness X as inadmissible whilst the whole indictment was based on those statements. Hours after that Limaj was released with the court order.
Indictment
Limaj was arrested on 18 February 2003, in Slovenia. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia charged him, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala with war crimes against Serbs and Albanians regarding illegal imprisonment, cruel treatment, inhuman acts, and murders in Lapušnik prison camp. On 4 March 2003, he was sent to The Hague, and on 15 November 2004, the trial began. In November 2005, Limaj was acquitted by the ICTY. In September 2007, "The Appeals Chamber finds that the Trial Chamber reasonably found that Fatmir Limaj does not incur criminal responsibility for any of the offences charged in the indictment," Judge Fausto Pocar said. On press conference help upon Judge Pocar's ruling, Limaj said that this verdict opens new paths for new victories.
Verdict
Limaj was found not guilty by an international court in 2018 for the murder of two Albanians during the separatist war.
