The second arrest of its kind in two weeks came after a resident who was asked to pay bribe reported the case to authorities
TIRANA, June 15 – Authorities have arrested a second judge in two weeks for taking a bribe to steer a court case in favor of a person who had reported the bribe solicitation to police.
The defense attorney in the case was also arrested for serving as an intermediary and taking a large part of the bribe, police said.
Judge Parashqevi Ademi of the Lezha Court of First Instance and Gjovalin Ndokaj, an attorney, were arrested this week following an investigation of the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office, police said.
Police moved in on the two after surveillance showed they were counting and splitting 200,000 leks, about 1,400 euros, they had taken as a bribe to steer a court case in the favor of one of Ndokaj’s clients in the town of Laç, about 60 kilometers north of Tirana.
The money was paid after the bribe was solicited, police said. However, the client had also turned informant for the police.
“Ndokaj, a lawyer and member of the Lezha Lawyers Association, was caught taking from a citizen, A.P., the sum of 200,000 leks, of which 150,000 he kept for himself and 50,000 leks were given to Judge Parashqevi Ademi, who works as a judge at the Court of First Instance in Lezha,” the General Police Directorate said in a press release.
Authorities had obtained the permission of the High Council of Justice a day earlier to go ahead with the arrest.
The HCJ is the governing body for the judiciary in Albania and must agree to lift the immunity from prosecution judges enjoy.
The move comes after another judge was arrested last week. Rasim Doda, a judge in the southern city of Saranda, had allegedly asked for 8 million leks, about 57,000 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 made by prosecutors, who said they found evidence of the corruption solicitation in Doda’s computer.
The two cases involve small sums compared to allegations that have been made in the past.
Fighting corruption in the justice system remains a top priority for Albanian authorities and the country’s international partners.
In a survey of judges financed by USAID, 25 percent of judges said the system was corrupt and another 58 percent said that the system had a public perception of corruption.
Proposed reforms in the justice system must offer systemic change to restore public trust in the justice system and end impunity for all those involved in corruption, including high state officials, top international representatives have said.
