TIRANA, Feb. 6 – Prime Minister Edi Rama said this week the extradition of Nezar Seiti — the money man of the Habilaj brothers and a key witness in the Tahiri-Habilaj case — was not in anyway aimed to hamper an investigation in Albania of the ties between the gang and his former interior minister, Saimir Tahiri.
Rama said Seiti was “handed over to the hands of the Italian prosecution, as a person officially wanted by the Italian prosecution.”
The Seiti case caused turmoil last week, when the Ministry of Justice overrun a first instance court and Serious Crimes Appeal ruling of imprisonment as a security measure of a witness and suspect of international drug trafficking.
Seiti’s investigation began parallel to the Tahiri-Habilaj investigation, while his extradition happened the day Seiti’s lawyer signed papers postponing investigation results for another three months and, allegedly, without his knowledge.
The Serious Crimes Appeal ruling of imprisonment does not allow extradition once the suspect is under investigation in a country, according to the penal procedure code.
The Ministry of Justice, however, signed Seiti’s extradition saying Tirana’s district court did not inform it on any security measures.
“The court has expressed there is no legal obstacle that does not allow extradition in accordance to all internal and international legal predictions,” the ministry’s press release said.
According to the ministry of justice, Seiti’s extradition was decided in line with the penal procedure code, the European Convention of Extradition, a treaty between Albania and Italy, as well as the European Convention for Judicial and Penal Assistance.
In this context, the High Justice Council (HJC), headed by President Ilir Meta, has begun a disciplinary investigation toward judge Kastriot Gramshi, who allowed the extradition, while the opposition’s Democratic Party (DP) said it will call Minister of Justice Etilda Gjonaj for an emergency interpelance.
“The records of the police show the financier of the Habilajs was arrested on Oct. 19, not on Oct. 20, as said by the minister of interior, who is also part of Rama’s scheme to extradite the only arrested witness who could testify on Tahiri’s drug money,” former Minister of Justice and current DP MP Enkelejd Alibeaj said last week.
The HJC investigation will focus on alleged professional violations which, if proven, are unconstitutional and against the penal procedure code.
It was in this context that Rama referred to Italian Minister of Justice, Andrea Orlando, who thanked Albanian authorities for handing over a witness also under investigation for international drug trafficking in Italy.
“His handing over was in line with international engagements that are binding for both Albanian and Italian authorities, according to the European Convention for extradition dated 13.12.1957 and a bilateral agreement signed in Tirana on 3.12.2007,” Orlando said in a press conference.
Despite this declaration, political unrest did not subside in Tirana concerning Seiti. Last Thursday’s parliamentary session was interrupted by the opposition, as its representatives approached the pulpit, blocking it temporarily.
Experts have also said Seiti’s case is unprecedented in the country, as it has not previously happened that a suspect under investigation in his own country be handed over to another country.
The Tahiri-Habilaj case has been under investigation since last year, when Italian authorities busted a criminal gang of marijuana traffickers led by alleged distant cousins of former Minister of Interior Saimir Tahiri – the Habilaj brothers.
