TIRANA, March 6 – Former Democratic Party lawmaker Ervin Salianji was called by the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office on Friday as a defendant of the “Xhafaj-Babale” case that led the brother of former Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj to hand himself in the Italian authorities, accused of “false denunciation.”
The opposition’s Democratic Party called the prosecution’s decision to call in Salianji as a defendant as an action politically influenced by the Rama government, which it blames of having captures the country’s judiciary in addition to its ties with organized crime.
The DP’s reaction highlights Salianji was one of the denouncers of the crime, not the one who committed the crime.
“Today’s act testified once more that for as long as Edi Rama is in government, justice will have its hands tied and organized crime will be invincible.”
The DP further added the development doesn’t come as a surprise, as it was warned by Rama since the DP denounced what it says “proved the involvement of former MoI’s Fatmir Xhafaj’s brother in narcotics trafficking and the protection he was granted from Xhafaj’s public function.”
Thanks to this denouncement, the DP statement added, “Agron Xhafaj, the brother of the interior minister, is no longer involved with drug trafficking, but instead serves time for international drug trafficking. Fatmir Xhafaj was fired as Minister of Interior, no longer using his political will to favor his brother’s drug trafficking. Taulant Balla and Ardi Veliu were confirmed to be the case’s main manipulators, making up proof and witnesses, with the only goal to protect the minister and his brother’s drug trafficking.”
The accusations towards Xhafaj began with the surfacing of the ‘Babale case,’ in which Albert Veliu, former collaborator of Agron, claimed he recently spoke with Agron to help him traffic narcotics for some quick money.
Both Xhafaj and Rama denied the veracity of this audio-surveillance, while the country’s prosecution issued two arrest warrants against Veliu and the man who impersonated Agron.
However, the Babale case investigations also made clear the fact that Agron’s sentence years back was eased significantly by saving him some prison years. Following the case breakout, Agron left to Italy to serve his sentence.
Xhafaj is one of the Socialist Party’s main politicians, a lawmaker and minister for several mandates, and chairman of the parliamentary committee of the judicial reform.
Along the vetting of the judiciary, he devised the vetting process for the state police, while leading the ‘Force of Law’ operation for many months.
Xhafaj was often critical of his predecessor Saimir Tahiri, who last week was officially charged with “narcotics trafficking,” in cooperation, “in the form of a structured criminal group.”
