“The indictment charges the defendants with various counts of war crimes against the civilian population and prisoners of war,” EULEX, the EU’s rule of law and justice mission, said in a statement, making the indictment public.

A EULEX judge confirmed a prosecutor’s indictment in July accusing the 10 of perpetrating the crimes in 1999 against Serbs, ethnic Albanian civilians and Serb military and police officers.

The indictment is likely to harm the ruling Democratic Party of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci because Limaj is one of its main figures and a long-time ally of the premier.

Parliament will have to scrap Limaj’s immunity from prosecution to allow the court to try him.

The victims were detained in the village of Klecka from early 1999 until mid-June 1999, when 72 days of NATO airstrikes ended a conflict between the KLA and Serb forces.

Kosovo has since been governed by the United Nations and now the European Union while its mainly ethnic Albanian government has gradually assumed more powers. NATO remains in control of security, maintaining the peace between Albanian and Serbs.

Kosovo declared three years ago its independence from Serbia, which was recognized by the US and major European countries, but not Serbia, Russia and China.

“Everyone knows I am innocent and that I was in Albania during the time that I am being accused of. The Kosovo Liberation Army general staff know of this, so does Hashim Thaci,” Limaj was quoted by the KosovaLive newsagency as saying in the court during the prosecutor’s indictment.