French court postpones decision on Haradinaj's extradition

The Court of Appeals in Colmar, France, on Thursday decided to postpone its decision on whether to extradite Ramush Haradinaj to Serbia.
Source: B92, Tanjug Thursday, February 9, 2017 | 19:22

(Tanjug/AP, file)

Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian politician and a former commander of the KLA ("Kosovo Liberation Army"), was arrested in France in early January on a Serbian war crimes warrant.
The court said in a statement that the decision on Serbia's extradition request would be made during a hearing scheduled for March 2.

Haradinaj spent a week in jail in France, before he was released on bail and prohibited from leaving the country pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.

Appearing before the court on Thursday, the former leader of the terrorist KLA said he did not accept to be extradited to Serbia, and described the case against him as "political."

A spokeswoman for the court told Tanjug that the French state prosecutor has asked for "more information from Serbia on several issues" - including more precise information regarding certain documents, and additional information about criminal proceedings in Serbia.

Earlier in the day, she said that Serbia would have no right to appeal if its extradition request is rejected, whereas if the court rules to extradite Haradinaj to Serbia - "the French government will make the final decision" on whether that will happen.

Tanjug is reporting that a large number of Haradinaj's supporters were present in the courtroom today, including those wearing t-shirts with the symbols of "Greater Albania" - an Albanian expansionist project.