Kosovo Ex-Minister Limaj to Face Corruption Trial

The presiding judge from the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, ruled on Monday that the majority of the counts in the indictment against Limaj were valid and that the case should proceed to trial. "The court has found sufficient evidence for a reasonable suspicion that the suspect Fatmir Limaj, a former transport minister, Nexhat Krasniqi, a former head of procurement at the [transport] ministry, and Endrit Shala, a former chief of staff and political adviser to Fatmir Limaj, founded an organised criminal group that committed serious criminal acts of misconduct and bribery," EULEX said in a statement. Limaj and the other defendants are accused, among other things, of manipulating tender procedures, giving and receiving bribes and obstructing evidence in relation to three tenders in the ministry of transport, post and telecommunication for personal or material benefit in the period between 2008 and 2010. The alleged cost to the ministerial budget amounts to about two million euro. Limaj denies the charges. However, the court dismissed embezzlement charges against Limaj and Krasniqi due to lack of evidence. It also ruled that there was no evidence that Limaj was laundering money or had an unauthorised weapon. The court suspended criminal proceedings against three other people, Limaj Florim, Demir Limaj and Gani Zogaj, who were accused of organised crime and money laundering. The evidence which police gathered while searching Limaj's house and rooms in parliament was excluded from the case because officers conducted the searches without a written court order. Limaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander, is also one of ten suspects in the high-profile ‘Klecka’ war crimes case, accused of abusing prisoners at a detention camp during the 1990s conflict with Serbia. The former minister was acquitted of the charges last May but the prosecution successfully appealed against the verdict and the case has been sent for retrial. In a previous trial at the Hague Tribunal in 2005, Limaj was acquitted of war crimes against Serbs and Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbia during the Kosovo war and returned home to a hero’s welcome.