TIRANA, April 3 – Following the surfacing of an international arrest warrant for murder, the Albanian parliament has approved a request by prosecutors to arrest Mark Frroku, a Christian Democratic Party lawmaker.
Prosecutors told parliament Frroku is wanted by Belgian authorities for his alleged involvement in a murder connected to a Brussels prostitution ring in 1999.
The parliament’s mandate commission decided unanimously to lift his immunity and let police arrest the MP and the court proceed with the case.
Belgium has asked for his extradition so that he can finish his trial process.
Local media reported that Frroku and his brothers were allegedly part of a criminal group that forced women into prostitution in Belgium in the late 1990s. The murder victim was an Albanian young man who had tried to save one of the girls from her pimps, according to several media reports.
Frroku has vehemently denied the accusation. He said he had been in Albania, not in Belgium at the of the murder, and urged authorities to verify his travel records.
This is the second time in two weeks that parliament has approved a request by law enforcement officials to arrest Frroku. He is already under house arrest for allegedly lying to prosecutors in another case related to an alleged plot to have two lawmakers assassinated.
Last week, the same procedure was followed for Frroku and Tom Doshi, a former Socialist lawmaker, who had publicly accused Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta of plotting the assassination of Doshi and another lawmaker, Mhill Fufi.
The prosecutors’ intense three-week investigation into the charges found that Doshi had made up the story and that he and Frroku had lied to the prosecutors.
They were arrested last Thursday on charges of providing false testimony. The Supreme Court sent them both to house arrest as the investigation continues.
Doshi, one of Albania’s wealthiest MPs, was previously a lawmaker for the ruling Socialist Party. He was expelled on March 2.
Frroku is chairman of the Christian Democratic Party, a minor member of the ruling Socialist Party-led coalition.
The opposition center-right Democratic Party boycotted the vote in parliament, accusing the prosecutor’s office of failing to investigate the allegations in depth.
Speaker Meta has denied the allegations, calling them a “farce” created by Doshi to put pressure on the center-left coalition government of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Doshi said that it was Frroku who first let him know about the plot, something which Frroku has always denied to have done.
Frroku was accompanied by police in the second formal hearing after the prosecutors had allowed his participation at the meeting in parliament.
The opposition Democratic Party members asked for Meta’s resignation form the head of the mandates commission saying it was a conflict of interest as Frroku was involved in the case of Doshi.
Meta said that was completely another issue and refused to leave the commission, sparking harsh debate.
