TIRANA, May 23 – A considerable number of elected officials in the country have had problems with justice in the past, the release of self-declaration forms under the decriminalization law has revealed.
The list of offenses for which politicians have been accused in the past ranges from petty crimes to more serious ones, including drug trafficking and prostitution and affect majority and opposition alike.
At least ten MPs have faced justice in the past, according to self-declaration forms made public by the Central Election Committee on Friday.
Democrat MP Mhill Fufi has had problems with justice on three occasions, including two charges in the early 2000’s for procuring prostitution, which were later dropped.
Armando Prenga, an independent MP after being expelled from the Socialist Party, is currently facing charges regarding illegal weapons possession, wounding and making threats.
Another Socialist MP expelled from the party, Tom Doshi, has been sentenced to one year imprisonment in 1990 for indecent behaviour by a court in the dictatorship period.
General Secretary of Democratic Party Arben Ristani has been sentenced to five months imprisonment in 1994 for allegedly delivering injustice, but has later been granted amnesty.
Democrat MP Alban Zeneli has been sentenced to six months for traffic violations.
Socialist MP Parid Cara has similarly been sentenced by a court in Italy for traffic violations.
Socialist MP Pjerin Ndreu has been detained in 2004 for misuse of phone calls, but was later declared innocent.
Democrat MP, Edi Paloka has been fined for libel and has also been investigated for unlawful assembly.
At least five mayors, three representing the Socialist Party and two the Democratic Party, have also admitted problems with justice in their self-declaration forms.
Kruja Mayor Artur Bushi representing the Socialist Party has been detained in Italy in 2010 on drug trafficking charges, but has later been set free. He has also had another unspecified arrest in Italy in 1996.
Bushi is a name who has frequently been mentioned by the opposition as a person with a criminal background.
Another mayor who appears to have had problems with the law is Kavaja Mayor Elvis Roshi, representing the Socialist Party. In 2013, Roshi has been arrested for assault, but has later declared innocent.
In his self-declaration form, Roshi states that he has been detained in Germany “before 2002”, but does not specify the reasons for his detainment by stating that “he does not remember”.
Roshi, who has also been accused by the opposition as a person with a dubious past, has publicly stated he has been detained and deported by German authorities as an undocumented immigrant.
Polican Mayor Adriatik Zotkaj, a SP representative, has been convicted three times in 1996, 2001 and 2002 for traffic violations and disobeying a police officer.
Mallakastra Mayor Agron Kapllanaj, representing the Democratic Party, has received a two year suspended sentence and 200 euro fine in Italy.
Kamza Mayor Xhelal Mziu was convicted on abuse of office charges in 2015 by a first instance court, which was overturned by an appeal’s court.
The decriminalization law also required elected officials to release other names used in the past. It appears that many of them have changed their names, while the reasons for doing so are not clear.
Kurbin Mayor Artur Bardhi has used at least three other names in his past. His former aliases include Gentian Lila, Altin Tanushi, Gent Bushi.
He has justified changing his name frequently with being detained by Italian police as an undocumented immigrant in the early ’90s and providing them with fake names.
Kavaja Mayor Elvis Roshi has also changed his name from Ervin to Elvis, according to his self-declaration form.
The release of self-declaration forms immediately became an object of political debate, despite the fact that both camps share an almost equal number of individuals with a questionable past.
For the leader of the opposition Lulzim Basha, the revelations “confirmed the alarming presence of crime under the direct sponsorship of Prime Minister Edi Rama” .
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister replied that “the incriminated persons were on the opposition’s side” .
“They dug a pit and fell into it, Rama wrote on Facebook.
The release of the questionnaires constitutes only the first phase of the decriminalization law. A series of institutions will subsequently verify the statements and the officials found to have lied or withheld information regarding their criminal convictions will have to step down.
Debates for the decriminalization of Albanian politics followed the general elections of June 2013 and turned into a legal initiative in parliament.
The law, adopted last December, was designed with the specific purpose to prevent criminals from holding public office, however its effectiveness remains to be seen.
