Former defense minister ready to be questioned on Gerdec blast

TIRANA, Sep 1 – Former Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, also leader of the governing coalition member Republican Party, said he was in the country and not abroad as reported last week when he allegedly did not go to the prosecutor’s office to be questioned about the March 15 blast at the Gerdec ammunition disposal factory that killed 26 and injured 300 persons.
Mediu said he has been in the country and received no calls from the prosecutors.
The former minister, who resigned three days after the blast due to moral responsibility, though not feeling any legal responsibility, said he would be ready, any time, to report to the prosecutors.
The parliament lifted his immunity in June to allow the prosecutors to aggressively investigate his role in the disaster.
It was first believed he was charged with abuse of post, but after his immunity was lifted no charges have been made public.
Last week it was reported that he declined to be present at the prosecutor’s office, as he was in the United States for some family problems.
A senior ministry official in charge of the export-import of weapons, the owner of the private company and a manager, have already been charged in the tragedy and are under arrest.