Interior minister calls on president to discipline judge.
TIRANA, April 2 – Corruption and abuse of funding charges have been filed against 20 former top police officials, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.
They are charged with abuse of public funds, the ministry said in a statement that detailed several violations that had resulted in large financial losses for the state.
Fighting corruption and improving administrative management remains a top priority for Albania in its efforts to one day a member of the European Union.
The charges also come at a time when the government is making strenuous efforts to cope with an increase in crime, which has included an increased used of small amounts of explosives in acts of targeted violence.
Recently ,the Interior Ministry and the government have passed a series of legislative amendments aimed at ensuring better security. The amendments need to be passed by the parliament before they come to power.
Fighting corruption remains a serious concern, according to Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri. The minister sent a letter to President Bujar Nishani complaining about a judge in Kavaja who has freed several people police said were involved in clear-cut criminal cases.
Nishani received the letter in his role as head of the High Council of Justice, the country’s top executive in the judiciary.
In an unusual public letter, Tahiri wrote about “absurd verdicts and often openly contrary to the law” from the judge in question, that have turned into a serious concern for police, which is forced “to fight criminality against the same persons who are recycled into the society from such verdicts, totally scandalous.”
Tahiri asked the president to consider radical steps of punishment against such a senior official.
