Albanian justice: All At Sea

The Parliamentary Committee neither rejected nor accepted the request of the General Prosecutor to lift the status of immunity of MP of Fatmir Mediu, former Minister of Defence. One of the Committee members who belongs to the same party as the accused MP, requested more time to adopt the final decision that will pave the way to the lifting of the status of immunity of MP of the former Defence Minister by Parliament. This Republican member of the Committee requested that the Prosecution provided evidence on the basis of which it levelled these serious accusations against the former Defence Minister.
The General Prosecutor accuses the former Defence Minister of being the main person responsible for the tragedy of 15 March, 2008 with a death count of 26 and 300 injured, including children, apart from the destruction of houses and businesses. The Ministry of Defence had given the go-ahead to the setting up of a factory for munitions’ dismantling in a populated and industrial zone alongside the motorway linking the capital city with Durr쳠and in close proximity to the country’s only international airport. Local media has broadcast the most shocking facts on conditions of the work place and safety measures, including the fact that there was child labour. Local experts are of the opinion that apart from corrupt racketeering there is every possibility that the explosion of this almost primitive workshop may also be a case of state capture. After almost two months of inquiries, the General Prosecutor’s Office publicly requested that Parliament lifted the status of immunity of MP of the former Defence Minister which would enable the beginning of criminal proceedings. The Office of the General Prosecutor also publicly announced that it was conducting a special inquiry into illegal arms trafficking. Two top Defence Ministry officials and the owner of the workshop have now been arrested. In fact the public request of the office of the General Prosecutor, more or less expected by public opinion, caused some confusion. The accused former Minister stated that the decision of the General Prosecutor was deliberate; somewhat surprising if we recall that following his resignation, the former Minister came out with a public declaration that he would volunteer to have his immunity as MP lifted and make himself available to the Prosecution! Top Republican leaders declared that the General Prosecutor had been “hasty” in adopting the decision to have the status of immunity of MP lifted of the former Defence Minister.
Other political voices personalised the decision of the General Prosecutor’s Office, regarding this as a decision of Madam General Prosecutor herself. Furthermore there have been allusions that General Prosecutor Ina Rama was politically motivated in taking this decision and that she enjoys the support of the President of the Republic. For its part, the Opposition declared that accusations against the former Defence Minister alone are insufficient and they called for the lifting of the status of immunity of MP of the Prime Minister. Meanwhile the Government observes silence, teetering between positions of neither contesting nor supporting the request of the General Prosecutor’s Office to lift the immunity of the MP who stands accused.
Nonetheless, the Parliamentary Committee controlled by the Democratic Party and its minor allies were obviously not entirely ready to push proceedings ahead on the final lifting of the status of immunity of MP of the former Defence Minister.
Following the status of immunity of MP of the Foreign Affairs Minister was lifted this is the second case where the General Prosecutor’s Office requests the lifting of the immunity of an MP who belongs to the center-right Majority. Three months ago the majority of the MPs in the Assembly voted, without hesitation, to lift the immunity of the Foreign Affairs Minister following allegations of corruption raised by the Opposition. In the case of the former Defence Minister, who, according to the General Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for the deaths of 26 persons and the injuring of hundreds of others, it is inconceivable why the Majority seems if not undecided, at least confused. After the Majority, the only institution that has voiced support for the decision of the General Prosecutor is that of the President of the Republic.
The inquiry into the 15 March, 2008 tragedy; the bringing of every single person responsible before Court, irrespective of how much money or power they possess is a golden opportunity for the justice system to prove that it implements the law to the letter. This is what we should be waiting to see.