The Dibra Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against 4 people involved in the interference of the early local elections for the Municipality of Dibra in 2016, in the case known to the public as “File 184”. The charges were filed only against Robert Aga, former director of the police station in Dibra, accused of abuse of office; Drini Gjeci, former Regional Education director, accused of abuse of office and intimidation of voters; Hasan Hoti, accused of voter intimidation and Nuri Meda, a local official accused of abuse of office.
The Prosecution has requested the dismissal of the case for Imer Lala, Bekim Krashi, Arben Keshi, and Afrim Mikli. Although the act of selling and buying of votes was proved for all of them, the Prosecution argued that the criminal offence of vote-buying is dismissed after 3 years have passed. As for the former Minister of Energy Damian Gjiknuri, which was involved in the interceptions held by the Prosecution, according to the Voice of America, there was not enough proof for criminal responsibility towards him.
The “File 184” gained a lot of attention after the German newspaper “Bild” made public some of the interceptions carried by the Prosecution in this file, were there included some of the highest leaders of the Socialist Party. The interceptions were considered by the Democratic Party as a proof that from Prime Minister Rama, to the former Ministers Gjiknuri or Tahiri, have all been “exchanging and cooperating with local renowned organized crime representatives and local officials in order to implement a large-scale campaign of vote-buying and vote-intimidation.”
The process took a lot of time to come to an end, after the back and forth between the local Dibra Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office (SPAK). Dibra Prosecutor’s Office requested to transfer the file to the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office (SPAK), which at the other hand refused the request arguing that the individuals involved are not subject of the SPAK mandate. Another factor contributing to the long period of time for the process to finalize was the high amount of recording material to be analyzed.
The Democratic Party reacted by stating that “justice did not produce justice”, in what they called “the file of the manipulation of the elections in Dibra.” According to the General Secretary of the Democratic Party Gazmend Bardhi, the “Prime Minister Edi Rama, former Minister of the Economy Damian Gjiknuri, former Minister of Interior Saimir Tahiri, MP Pjerin Ndreu (today mayor of Lezha), Ulsi Manja, Xhemal Qefalia, Artan Gaçi, were heard by Albanians ordering and carrying out the stealing of elections in Dibra along with organized crime members,” adding that “the so-called justice waits for the time to pass, to not investigate and acquit Edi Rama and his gang, for the accuse of stealing the elections in Dibra,” concluded Bardhi.
The vice-chairman of LSI, Petrit Vasili, also accused the new justice system for failure, and for being in the hands of the majority.
