TIRANA, Jan. 31 – The United States has revoked entry visas for several judges, prosecutors and other public officials in Albania believed to have engaged in corrupt practices, U.S. embassy officials said in a statement.
The embassy refused to comment on individual cases “due to the confidentiality clause on visa records,” but said that that those unnamed officials “no longer qualified for these visas.”
The U.S. Embassy has not given exact figures on officials whose visa had been revoked; however, the decision was taken ahead of an expected anti-graft effort part of the justice reform approved by Albania last year.
The decision also comes in response to the case of a senior prosecutor and his spouse who abused their official non-migrant U.S visa.
“The U.S. Embassy takes seriously allegations of corruption and will continue to review justice officials’ visas and visa applications with additional scrutiny,” a press release read. “The Department of State has broad authority to deny and revoke visas based on information indicating that a visa holder may be inadmissible to the United States.”
The embassy also announced that the “Department of State will continue to use this authority to advance its anti-corruption efforts in Albania.”
February 2017, marks the beginning of one of the most important processes of the justice reform which aims to out root corruption from the justice system. This week, officials will launch procedures for the selection of candidates that will chair the two institutions that will implement the vetting process: Committee of Qualification and College of Appeal.
These two institutions will carry out background checks on judges and prosecutors related to their professional preparation, moral integrity and level of independence from organized crime, corruption and political power.
Experts from United States and European Union who are members of the International Monitoring Operation are expected to arrive in Tirana and monitor the process. The IMO will be headed by Genoveva Ruiz-Calavera, Director for the Western Balkans at the Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission.
The procedure for the two institutions responsible for the vetting process must be completed until April 2017. The arrival of the foreign experts to Tirana will also mark the official kick off of the justice reform, one of the most important reforms in Albania in the past two decades.
