Ex-aviation head declared innocent

TIRANA, Dec. 4 – Gazmend Dibra, former head of the aviation department, was declared innocent of all corruption charges by the Tirana Court Tuesday.
Dibra was accused of corruption and abuse of post.
The prosecutor’s office had asked for a year imprisonment and a fine of 800,000 leks which was turned down by the court.
Dibra was accused of trying to abuse his post in an illegal deal with a flight company, Albatros, which was owned by nephews of former President Alfred Moisiu.
The company was later closed.
There were accusation from the company that Dibra had pressed them to convince their uncle to dismiss former Prosecutor General Theodhori Sollaku from the post, something which he did not do. Following that, they claimed that Dibra had imposed a heavy fine on them.
All these accusations were based on registered phone calls.
The court did not consider the registration as a legal proof, though Dibra acknowledged he had talked with the company managers, but not about what they claimed.
Dibra resigned from the post a year ago in order to open the way for the prosecutor’s office to deepen the investigation.
The prosecutor’s office said they would appeal the verdict.