A French court today ordered the release on bail of former prime minister of Kosovo and rebel leader Ramush Haradinaj, who was arrested in early January on suspicion of war crimes.
Haradinaj lodged an appeal at a court in the eastern town of Colmar after his arrest on January 4 at an airport by French police acting on an international arrest warrant.
Serbia wants to try the former leader of the insurgent Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) for alleged atrocities committed against civilians during the 1998-99 conflict in former Yugoslavia.
"These accusations from Serbia are purely political," Haradinaj told the court in French, dressed in a suit and tie. "What you are doing here is an abuse of the law."
To his compatriots, Haradinaj is a hero for his efforts to win independence for Kosovo from late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, and he is known as "Rambo" at home for his stocky build and military prowess.
"Haradinaj is Kosovo" read placards held by hundreds of war veterans who rallied against his arrest outside the French embassy in Pristina last week.
His lawyer Rachel Lindon said that his release on bail was the first stage of a fresh legal battle, which has already seen him tried and acquitted twice before for war crimes.
The 48-year-old intends now to try to overturn the arrest warrant issued by international police body Interpol at the request of Serbia and fight his extradition to Belgrade.
He must surrender his passport as part of the bail deal and will have to attend future court hearings which will examine the extradition request, the French court ruled.
Haradinaj became prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 but stepped down after just over three months to face 37 charges of war crimes at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
He was acquitted in 2008, and again in a partial retrial in 2012.
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