While the death penalty now belongs to Albania’s past, increasing punishments might help deter violent crime in general.
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
Tirana, Mar. 22 – The recent rise in crime, documented by this newspaper and by the Albanian media in general, has led to calls for tougher punishments on criminals and for better implementation of the laws already in the books. The government has already reacted with a package of legislative changes aiming to increase punishments for certain crimes, particularly those that are violent and affect vulnerable parts of society such as children, women and those suffering through blood feuds, a medieval form of revenge that is still practiced in pockets of Albania.
That is a welcome move if implemented properly. However, the discovery of a heinous crime this week, which came after the arrest of a serial pedophile who told police he also murdered a 11-year-old boy who had been missing since November has shocked the Albanian public and exposed a huge hole in how the Albanian justice system deals with serial offenders, particularly those of sexual and predatory nature.
The criminal in question, Ardian Prrenjasi, had been convicted in Greece and Albania and his tendencies where known in his native town and yet when he moved to Tirana, it is as if the slate was wiped clean. No one in the neighborhood or his place of work knew of his past, allowing him to prey on children in his neighborhood.
There has been public outrage about the fact that prosecutors in a previous case had lowered the charges against him so pedophilia did not appear in the record and he received a simple fine rather than going to prison. In another case, the charges were withdrawn altogether.
The case Prenjasi, who now sits in jail and still doesn’t face murder charges because the body of the boy he says he killed hasn’t been found yet, highlights the need for changes in both how the Albanian justice system and the Albanian society deals with these type of crime.
First, the Albanian authorities should seek the advice of advanced countries in how to establish a registry that keeps track of anyone convicted or charged as a sexual predator and make sure that police forces and communities where predators live have access to the information.
Second, Albanian society needs to be more aware about the dangers such predators pose, and the state needs to make sure these cases are not kept quiet or go unpunished, while at the same time protecting the victims and providing counseling.
Third, the heinous nature of the crime and the age of the victims has also reopened the debate whether Albania should restore the death penalty for extreme cases such as this one.
It is clear that the death penalty and EU membership, which Albania seeks, don’t go together. So a return to applying the death penalty would be temporary and would require amending the constitution. This newspaper doesn’t believe that is a feasible solution.
While the death penalty now belongs to Albania’s past, increasing minimum punishments and making sure these charges are given priority by prosecutors should be part of Albania’s future to set precedents that can hopefully deter not only heinous crimes against children but all violent crime in general.
