Albania court starts trial on Gerdec blast

TIRANA, May 4 – Albania’s Supreme Courts on Monday started a trial against former Albanian defense minister, other senior military officials and individuals charged over a series of massive explosions at an arms disposal site last year that killed 26 people and injured 300.
Former Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, the former army chief of staff, and 26 other officials and managers of a private company have been charged with breach of duty, and four of them also with murder, which carry penalties from a fine to life imprisonment. They have all denied any wrongdoing.
Criminal cases against senior public officials in Albania are automatically referred to the Supreme Court.
The trial started despite some irregularities in the documentation of a legal representative and the absence of one of the defendants. That was the first step in what seems to be a long trip for the defendants.
Prosecutors have blamed the ministry decisions on the site of the disposal factory and other errors as the causes of the explosion, but government officials maintain they were triggered accidentally during work to dispose of aging Communist-era ammunition.
Opposition Socialists claim the governing Democrats have tried to hinder an impartial investigation by exerting pressure on Albania’s judiciary. They have also accused Prime Minister Berisha’s government of corruption regarding the disposal of obsolete weapons.
About 100,000 tons of excess ammunition, mostly Russian and Chinese artillery shells made in the 1960s or earlier, are stored in old army depots across formerly communist Albania.
Mediu, on his side, continued his electoral trip with meetings in southeastern Albania.
The trial will naturally attract much attention from the voters and is very likely a strong tool in the hands of the opposition against the governing coalition.