Two Interpol Tirana officials detained and charged over missing international arrest warrant for lawmaker
TIRANA, April 2 – Albania’s top police officer has resigned, citing “moral responsibility,” following the revelation that an Interpol warrant for an MP accused of murder in Belgium went missing and was not acted upon earlier.
Prosecutors said two local police officials had been arrested in connection to the case.
State Police General Director Artan Didi resigned following the arrest of Interpol Tirana Chief Artan Bajraktari and another police official in that office, Loreta Alla.
The two arrested officials allegedly hid an international arrest warrant against Mark Frroku, an MP currently under house arrest for allegedly making false statements to prosecutors in another case.
According to the warrant, the murder in question happened in Belgium in 1999. The victim and the aggressors were all Albanian citizens, and Belgian authorities said the killing happened as part of clash over controlling a prostitution network in Brussels.
The court of first instance for serious crimes in Brussels, has sentenced to 10 years in prison Mr. Frroku and three other Albanians, while the case is now in the Court of Appeals in the Belgian capital.
The Belgian arrest warrant for Frroku arrived at the offices of Interpol Tirana in January, but the officials in charge had failed to notify the higher ups, an internal affairs investigation indicated.
Didi cited the damage done by the two officials to the image of police and said he had failed “to prevent such a fact” and must “give his irrevocable resignation” as a result.
Frroku has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder. He said he was in Albania at the time the crime took place.
His alleged involvement in the case first appeared in a Belgian newspaper shortly after the general elections in which Frroku was elected as the sole MP from the Christian Democratic Party in Shkoder County as part of the Socialist-led ruling coalition.
The party is led by the Frroku family, which now has a record of criminal trials, but no final convictions in Albania.
As Mark Frroku is expected to be stripped of the MP status, the next in line for the seat, his brother Arben Frroku, is also in jail, awaiting a court verdict in a case in which he is accused of killing a police official.
The top policeman, Didi, handed over his irrevocable resignation Tuesday saying that he held moral responsibility for a violation of the normal procedures followed by his employees.
The Tirana Interpol and another official of that office were arrested and accused of abusing with the post after they had not presented or delayed, or hidden some documentation sent from the Belgian authorities on the arrest warrant for Frroku.
Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri said he highly valued Didi’s performance and respected his resignation.
He said he would miss his presence on his right side, adding that he is an example that should serve all the police force.
There has been no official replacement so far, but Didi’s deputy has taken over as the acting chief.
The main opposition Democratic Party has said the latest events show that both the government and police have strong ties to the criminal world. They asked for the resignation of Tahiri as interior minister.
Tahiri also said he deplored the fact that the opposition attacked police given any chance and added that both he and the premier would sue opposition representatives who have publicly accused the police and government officials of having ties to crime.
Tahiri and Rama have said the opposition should show proof when making public accusations, otherwise it was defamation.
