Former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj could face a re-trial after the chief UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz lodged an appeal against his acquittal, Associated Press reported on May 2.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) cleared Haradinaj, a former leader of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), of ethnic cleansing charges. One of his co-defendants, Idriz Balaj, was cleared of all charges, while another, Lahi Brahimaj, was sentenced to six years in jail.

All were accused of torturing, raping and murdering Serbs residing in Kosovo in 1998/99.

Prosecutors had requested 25-year terms for each of the former plaintiffs. When ICTY pressed charges against Haradinaj in 2005, he stepped down from the PM office and handed himself over to the UN court.

The chief justice recognised that the trial, which saw Haradinaj at large, may have been skewed because witnesses did not feel secure enough to speak freely. Out of 81 witnesses, 34 had to be given special protection, Agence France Press said.

Haradinaj’s acquittal angered Serbia, with both president Boris Tadic and prime minister Vojislav Kostunica condemning the verdict. Authorities in Belgrade often grumble that Serbia is being victimised by the ICTY, while turning a blind eye to the allegations of war crimes involving citizens of other former Yugoslav republics.