Sollaku becomes an obstacle to reform in the judiciary

TIRANA, Nov. 12 – The Sollaku case seems to have blocked the urgent judicial reform the country badly needs.
The parliamentary committee that was supposed to work on the reform in the judiciary has been blocked. The opposition says that the request for the dismissal of the Prosecutor General, Theodhori Sollaku, has blocked all reforms. The opposition voted against the move claiming that Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the governing Democratic Party wants all investigative powers under his control.
Meanwhile, President Bamir Topi, who was former deputy leader of the Democrats, is taking time to decide whether to accept or turn down the request of the parliament to remove Sollaku.
The opposition has been exerting pressure on Topi not to announce Sollaku’s dismissal. They say Topi should wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court, which has been asked by Sollaku to decide whether he should have been investigated for a second time or not.
Last week, Albania’s parliament voted to oust Sollaku for allegedly violating the constitution and for not fighting organized crime and corruption.
Now it is up to President Bamir Topi to decide whether to ratify such a proposal.
A report of the parliamentary investigative committee, which was boycotted by opposition legislators, said Sollaku had not cooperated with international institutions to extradite Albanian suspects and “created a great climate of mistrust by foreign authorities,” that the prosecutor office had incorrectly released 22 sentenced criminals and, at the same time, had kept silent on dangerous murder cases.
Sollaku, 45, has been former President Sali Berisha’s legal adviser from 1992 to 1997. He has rejected the charges against him, claiming the investigation is unconstitutional, calling it, “a subversive act, institutional putsch with grave consequences for the functioning of the independent institutions and respect of the citizens’ rights and freedom.”
The opposition said the governing majority is trying to oust Sollaku to hide many corrupt and scandalous cases involving its top officials, including a government minister for whom the prosecutor office had asked the parliament lift immunity to investigative an alleged corruption.
Corruption and organized crime are major issues in Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries.
Last year, after a similar investigation, the Democrats tried to oust Sollaku, whose position carries no term limit and can only be terminated if he is found to have broken the law or be incapacitated by illness, but the effort was blocked by then-President Alfred Moisiu.
President Bamir Topi, who took office in July and has the final say over Sollaku’s fate after Parliament approved the report, is likely to back his removal.
Ironically, Sollaku was nominated five years ago by the then-opposition Democrats after the governing Socialists removed his predecessor from the post in a similar manner.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha has said that corruption was still rampant in the judiciary and urged President Bamir Topi to reform the system.
Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker Jozefina Topalli urged the parliamentary parties’ to submit members to the ad hoc parliamentary committee on judicial reform.
In the meantime, rumors about Sollaku have been reported in the media.
Korrieri newspaper has speculated that Sollaku could be offered the post of an adviser to the United States Department of Justice. The post was previously held by former chair of the Court of Cassation, Zef Brozi, who has returned to Albania and is working for a USAID project.
Albanian newspapers speculated that Tirana chief prosecutor, Vexhi Mu计ta, is the most likely person to become the next General Prosecutor. President Bamir Topi has already begun consultations on Theodhori Sollaku’s replacement and quotes confidential sources from his office as saying that the president will wait for the Constitutional Court decision on Sollaku’s complaint before acting.