Agim Çeku

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Agim Çeku (2006)

Agim Çeku ( Serbo-Croatian  Агим Чеку / Agim Čeku , born October 29, 1960 in Čuška near Peć , FVR Yugoslavia ) was Prime Minister of Kosovo, then under UN administration , from March 2006 to January 2008 . Previously, he was head of the Kosovo Protection Corps , one of the KFOR initiated National Guard of Kosovo. Formerly he served as chief of staff of the UÇK .

Military career

After finishing school, Çeku became an artillery officer in the Yugoslav People's Army and graduated from the Yugoslav Military Academy in Belgrade .

Time in the Croatian Army

In 1991 he deserted and in October switched to the newly forming Croatian army, where he began his career as a colonel . He was promoted to lieutenant general and commander of the 5th military district ( Rijeka ). Çeku is considered to be one of the key planners of the Oluja military operation , during which the Croatian army captured the territory of the Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1995 .

Agim Ceku was also instrumental in the military operation Medak , in which there was significant fighting with the Canadian army stationed there after the Croatian army committed massacres of civilians.

During the Croatian War , he and other Croatian officers were trained by American military advisors. He received a total of nine awards in Croatia.

Time in the UÇK and TMK

In February 1999 he retired from the Croatian army and shortly thereafter became the chief of the UÇK as chief of staff .

Since autumn 1999 he was head of the Kosovo Protection Corps (TMK) with the rank of general . Only Çeku was allowed to hold a military rank within the TMK. The TMK was created on the basis of an agreement between the KFOR and the UÇK. The claim that it was a "civil protection corps" is refuted at least by the self-image of its members. You do not see yourself as a disaster control of Kosovo, but as the core of a future army of Kosovo. Most of the KLA's freedom fighters were integrated into the TMK's structures. The United Nations finances the TMK for the most part.

Political career

Çeku is a member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), one of three parties that are considered political successor organizations to the UÇK. On March 10, 2006 he was elected Prime Minister by the Kosovo Parliament; he succeeded Bajram Kosumi . The western protective powers of Kosovo supported his election as head of government because he had proven to be a reliable partner during his time as commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps.

After the general election in November 2007 , Çeku was replaced on January 9, 2008 by Hashim Thaçi in the office of Prime Minister.

War crimes allegation

The former Serbian public prosecutor's office at the Pristina District Court (currently in Niš ) accuses Çeku of crimes against Serb civilians in Kosovo. It issued an arrest warrant against him on March 18, 2002, which Serbia's Interior Ministry forwarded to Interpol on June 4, 2002 . According to Interpol, Çeku was at no time the subject of an international arrest warrant (Red Notice) , but rather through a diffusion notice in an Interpol database sent by the Serbian authorities on June 4, 2002 via the National Central Bureau (Interpol) in Belgrade been noted as the wanted person.

In 2003, Serbia's authorities had unsuccessfully sought charges against Çeku before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia .

On October 22, 2003, Çeku was arrested by the Slovenian border guard at Ljubljana airport while entering Slovenia and released a day later on the intervention of UNMIK boss Harri Holkeri . On the day of the arrest, several hundred Albanian protesters in Prishtina called for Çeku's release.

On February 29, 2004, Çeku was arrested by the Hungarian border guards at Budapest Airport and released again shortly afterwards following Holkeri's intervention, whereupon the Serbian Justice Minister accused Holkeri of abuse of office and the breach of international treaties.

UNMIK considers the Serbian arrest warrant against Çeku to be unfounded and an obstacle to a dialogue between Albanians and Serbs. Since Çeku was elected Prime Minister of Kosovo on March 10, 2006, representatives of international organizations believe that he will enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution due to international law.

On June 24, 2009, Agim Çeku was arrested again, this time by Bulgarian border authorities on the border from Macedonia to Bulgaria on the basis of an international Serbian arrest warrant forwarded by Interpol. He had been invited to Bulgaria by the former Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Atlantic Club Solomon Passi . After the government of Kosovo informed Bulgaria of Çeku's diplomatic status , he was released on the evening of June 25, 2009.

literature

Web links

  • Biography. Institute for War and Peace Reporting (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kosovo: Agim Ceku, the War Criminal Not Wanted by Canada. Global Research, August 19, 2011, Esprit de Corps magazine
  2. ↑ a b Interpol statement concerning arrest warrant for Agim Ceku ( Memento from May 19, 2013 on WebCite )
  3. ↑ Serbian Minister of Justice: Indictments against KLA leaders must be filed . ( Memento of July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) sr.gov.yu
  4. ^ Former Kosovar Rebel Leader Arrested at Brnik Airport . ( Memento of May 12, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Slovenia News
  5. ↑ Reuters: Kosovo General Released by Slovenian Police . ( Memento of November 29, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) balkanpeace.org
  6. ↑ Serbian Minister of Justice: Holkeri's intervention to release Ceku is abuse of office . ( Memento of July 21, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) sr.gov.yu
  7. ↑ UNMIK on air: Interpol and the warrant issues ( Memento of May 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Erich Rathfelder: A strange little game . the daily newspaper, June 25, 2009
  9. ↑ Bugarska Pusta Čekua na slobodu ( Bulgaria dismisses Çeku to freedom ). B92, June 25, 2009
predecessor Office successor
Bajram Kosumi Prime Minister of Kosovo
2006-2008 		Hashim Thaçi
personal data
SURNAME Çeku, Agim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Kosovar Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Čuška near Peć , Kosovo