TIRANA, Jan. 14 – The Court of Kruja decided on Tuesday, after a process that lasted several months, to release from prison Endrit Dokle, otherwise known as the head of the Durres gang, who was serving a life sentence.
The request for release from prison, filed by Dokle’s lawyers, was strongly opposed by the prosecution, which as said on Tuesday and in a statement on the case, “requested the dismissal of the trial judge on the grounds that the same panel had rendered decisions in favor of the petitioner, decisions which have not been accepted by the court.”
According to the court’s ruling, Dokle has been released on bail, “having been placed on probation for a period of five years. Endrit Dokle is obliged not to associate with certain persons, mainly convicts or accomplices, during the probation, not to possess, keep or use weapons and to maintain contact with the Probation Service.”
Dokle, meanwhile, has filed with the court an employment contract with a construction company after a three-month probationary period.
He was arrested in 2005 and found guilty of some serious crimes while serving another prison sentence for drug trafficking after being found to be leading a criminal group out of prison cells. He is held responsible for several post-1998 killings in the city of Durres.
The legal arguments used by the court for Dokle’s conditional release are not yet known.
In its statement, the prosecution states that it “has maintained its full stance on the dismissal of the claim, arguing that not only are the legal requirements not met, but that there are no proven specific reasons required by the norm. All objections to procedural violations as well as incorrect application of the law. The prosecution will appeal to the Kruja Court of First Instance within the legal deadline,” the announcement states.
