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{{Short description|Kosovar politician}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

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Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, SFR Yugoslavia{{small>(now Kosovo)}}| nickname = Çeliku| battles = Battle of Llapushnik}}Fatmir Limaj (born 4 February 1971), is a Kosovo-Albanian politician. He is the leader of Nisma Socialdemokrate. Limaj served as Minister of Transport and Telecommunication in the government of the Republic of Kosovo. He was known as "Çeliku" during the Yugoslav wars.

Biography

Limaj was born in the village of Banjë, in the municipality of Suva Reka, Kosovo, (then Yugoslavia).WEB, Limaj et al. Case Information Sheet,weblink ICTY.org, United Nations, During the 1999 Kosovo War, Limaj was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), in the Llapushnik area. He took part in the Battle of Llapusnik as a commander. His alias was Çeliku.After the war he was one of the founders of what is now Kosovo's largest political party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo.BOOK, Burnett, M. Troy, Nationalism Today: Extreme Political Movements around the World [2 volumes], 2020, ABC-CLIO, 9781440850004, 639,weblink After his indictment, which he was freed from in 2007 (see below), he returned to politics. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the Minister of Transport.NEWS, Fatmir Limaj’s brother promoted at University of Prizren,weblink Prishtina Insight, 10 July 2019, In the elections held in December 2010 he was third most voted leader in the whole country but he decided not to be part of the government.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} In 2014, he co-founded the Initiative for Kosovo Party (NISMA).Fatmir was Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo in the cabinet of Ramush Haradinaj from September 2017 to February 2020.

War crimes charges

Limaj was arrested on 18 February 2003, in Slovenia. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) charged him, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala with war crimes against Serbs and Albanians regarding illegal imprisonment, cruel treatment, inhuman acts, and murders in Lapušnik prison camp.BOOK, Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity,weblink Human Rights Watch, 1, NEWS, UN court acquits top Kosovo rebel,weblink BBC News, 14 May 2010, 30 November 2005, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Press Release: "Haradin Bala, Isak Musliu, and Agim Murtezi Transferred to the ICTY following their Indictment for Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes", The Hague, 18 February 2003; retrieved 7 April 2009.On 4 March 2003, he was sent to The Hague, and on 15 November 2004, the trial began. In November 2005, Limaj was acquitted by the ICTY.In September 2007, The Appeals Chamber found that "the Trial Chamber reasonably found that Fatmir Limaj does not incur criminal responsibility for any of the offences charged in the indictment," Judge Fausto Pocar said.WEB, The Tribunal's Appeals Chamber today upheld the Trial Chamber judgement in the case against former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) members Fatmir Limaj, Isak Musliu and Haradin Bala.,weblink ICTY.org, 27 September 2007, Limaj was charged in another war crime case by European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). He was held for seven months in house arrest and on 21 March the Court declared all statements of witness X as inadmissible whilst the whole indictment was based on those statements. Hours after that Limaj was released with the court order.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}In 2018, Limaj was found not guilty of war crimes by an international court for failing to prevent the killing of two Albanians during the Kosovo War.NEWS, Kosovo deputy PM acquitted of war crime charges,weblink FOX News, 9 March 2018,

References

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