TIRANA, Feb. 16 – Albania’s Serious Crimes Appeals Prosecution Office is currently non functional, as the judging body is now left without prosecutors.
The Independent Qualification Commission dismissed on Thursday the head of this prosecution Artan Bajrami, who was also its last prosecutor.
Previously, temporary General Prosecutor Arta Marku named Besa Nikelhasani in this prosecution, who was dismissed by the IQC in April 2018.
This caused the serious crimes appeals court to remain with only two prosecutors – Bujar Sheshi and Artan Bajrami.
Sheshi was appointed at the High Prosecutorial Council in December 2018, which automatically makes him unable to also remain a prosecutor at the serious crimes appeals court.
According to the law, this appeals prosecution is obliged to follow through with all court cases filed by the first instance of serious crimes.
Meanwhile, during its meeting on January 21, the HPC appointed Isa Jata as a prosecutor of this judging body.
The Serious Crimes Prosecution, both its first instance and its appeals court, will be replaced by the Special Prosecution against Organized Crime and Corruption (SPAK), however the HPC extended its creation deadline due to the small number of candidates.
The HPC has said that SPAK is expected to be established by June.
