TIRANA, June 8 – Rasim Doda, a judge in the southern city of Saranda, has been arrested on corruption charges shortly after prosecutors obtained permission by the High Council of Justice to make the arrest.
Prosecutors say Doda had asked for tens of thousands of euros to resolve a civil case in favor of one of the parties. When the party did not pay up, he ruled in favor of the other side, according the charges.
Prosecutors said they found the evidence of the wrongdoing in Doda’s computer. He had allegedly written up a ruling in favor of the side where the bribe had been solicited, then deleted it once the bribe did not materialize.
Fighting corruption in the justice system remains one of the main issues to deal with in the country.
U.S. Ambassador in Tirana Donald Lu said Monday that one quarter of the judges had acknowledged themselves in a survey there was corruption among their ranks.
He publicly called on Albanians to denounce such acts and asked the government and the justice system authorities to fight corruption, a primary hurdle in the country’s progress toward EU membership.
