French Court Holds Hearing On Extradition Case Of Former Kosovar Prime Minister

Ramush Haradinaj

A French court has held a hearing on Serbia’s request to extradite former Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.

Haradinaj said after the hearing concluded on February 9 that a decision is to be delivered by the court on March 2.

The appeals court in the city of Colmar released Haradinaj from custody on January 12, saying he can remain under judicial supervision on bail while the case is being considered.

Haradinaj, 48, was detained on January 4 and is wanted in Serbia on suspicion of committing war crimes, including kidnappings and torture, when he was a guerrilla fighter during Kosovo’s 1998-99 independence war.

He has been tried twice and acquitted of war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. He was elected prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 but resigned after 100 days in order to face trial in The Hague.

Kosovar Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said on January 11 that Serbia’s warrants for Haradinaj were "completely illegal and unjust" and are "damaging the European [integration] process in the region."