France refuses to extradite Kosovo ex-PM

Описание: (27 Apr 2017) Kosovo's president Hashim Thaci on Thursday welcomed a French court's decision to refuse the extradition of the country's former prime minister to Serbia over war crimes charges.
The court in France's northeastern town of Colmar said Ramush Haradinaj was released after the decision.
Parties to the case have five days to appeal.
Thaci said the court's decision showed that that Haradinaj was "not guilty of anything".
In Serbia, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic called an emergency government session over Haradinaj's release.
Serbia has said in the past that it could abolish an extradition treaty with France if Haradinaj is not handed over.
Serbia's government requested his extradition after French police arrested Haradinaj in January on a Serbian arrest warrant.
The arrest raised tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, and Kosovo lawmakers called on the European Union to intervene to secure his release.
Haradinaj, a guerrilla fighter in Kosovo's 1998-1999 war for independence from Serbia, was previously cleared of war crimes charges by a U.N. tribunal.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade has not recognised.

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