Limaj Denies 'Absurd' Kosovo Corruption Charges

Fatmir Limaj has denied involvement in corruption and organized crime, maintaining that the latest indictment raised against him was based on prejudice and speculation.“If this indictment was a screenplay, a good movie could be made, based on it”, Limaj told the court on Wednesday.Last month, the EULEX prosecutor, Johannes Pickert, raised a second indictment against Limaj and four other defendants, accusing them of organised crime, misappropriation in office, entering into harmful contracts, abusing official position or authority, accepting bribes and other corruption-related offences.The three defendants "manipulated tender procedures, engaged in giving and receiving bribes and obstructing evidence with regard to the conduct of two tenders under the authority of the Ministry of Transport", the indictment says.The EU rule-of-law mission, EULEX, said the defendants “committed these offences for personal material benefit. Two defendants are alleged to have engaged in misuse of economic authorizations, as well as the criminal offence of giving bribes”.Shpetim Telaku, another defendant in the case, has also denied guilt. “The evidence in the case does not prove that I have committed such crimes,” he said.According to the prosecutor, the offences took place in 2008 while Limaj was Minister of Transport. The prosecution alleges damages to the budget of the ministry worth over 890,000 euro.In a separate case, the so-called “MTPT case”, Limaj and three others 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 and Post Telecommunication for personal or material benefit.Limaj, a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander, was 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. He was acquitted of all charges in September 2013.In a previous trial before the Hague tribunal, the ICTY, 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.