Basha questioned at the prosecutor general office

TIRANA, Dec. 10 – Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha went to the Prosecutor general’s office to be questioned for some two hours on Monday regarding an alleged scandal in the construction of the Rreshen-Kalimash road segment.
Basha went to the prosecutor’s office on his own free will as a witness to respond to all questions about the case.
The opposition immediately came out to say that Basha cannot go there as a witness at a time when the prosecutor has asked the parliament to lift his immunity and charge him with abusive efforts and corruption in the case. Basha has been accused, though not yet formally due to his governmental and parliamentary post, of abusing his post and breaking the laws in choosing the U.S.-Turkish Bechtel-Enka group that is building the 57-kilometer road segment, the most difficult in the Durres-Kukes project linking the country to neighboring Kosova.
Former Prosecutor general Theodhori Sollaku had sent the parliament a request to lift Basha’s immunity, saying he would accuse him of corruptive efforts in the process. Sollaku was replaced last month by Ina Rama, whom is believed to be a member of the governing Democrats. Rama did not withdraw the request for Basha’s immunity.
At the same time, it is very likely that parliament will lift Basha’s immunity.
In the context of transparency and the fight against corruption, Prime Minister Sali Berisha has said that any time the prosecutor wants to begin investigations or bring charges against any government minister, they would be ready lift the official’s immunity immediately.