EULEX: Judge Deciding on Limaj's Detention
Former Transport Minister Fatmir Limaj handed himself in to District Court of Pristina at a detention hearing at on Thursday.
An international judge is soon to decide whether the EULEX arrest warrant for Limaj is to be executed.
Hans-Christian Klassing, the EULEX spokesperson confirmed to Balkan Insight Limaj was at the hearing.
"The judge will decide if he[Limaj] will be detained or not," he said adding that the hearing had ended. "We are waiting for the judges verdict. We have to wait, and see."
Local media reported that Limaj's move was a result of a compromise with the EULEX prosecution so that he does not get arrested.
His lawyer Tome Gashi has confirmed that Limaj was at the court.
EULEX’s prosecutor Maurizio Salustro, who is handling the case, was seen entering the District Court at 5pm while Limaj appeared about 30 minutes later.
Limaj's move came after Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that parliamentarians are not immune from prosecution if sought by the law.
The ruling, that came in effect on Thursday, allows that the former transport minister may be arrested. He was indicted for alleged war crimes committed at a KLA prison during the conflict in 1999.
EULEX, in March issued an arrest warrant for Limaj, who is currently a member of parliament for the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, which is led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.
Prosecutors from the EU law mission questioned Limaj in March but did not arrest him. Though immune from prosecution as a member of parliament, immunity does not prevent police from investigating allegations.
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 the ICTY acquitted him and he returned home to a hero’s welcome, with street celebrations in the capital, Pristina.
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