Prosecution to investigate cables

05/09/2011 15:00

The Albanian General Prosecution is set in motion after the media storm caused by the US Embassy cables published on Wikileaks.

Today it has been unofficially suggested that the General Prosecutor, Mrs. Ina Rama has set up a special team of investigators, led by the director of Criminal Investigations, Sokol Stojani, who will verify every cable that mentions concrete corruptive actions and connections of the Albanian politicians and officials with organized crime.

It consists of concrete files, such as the files “Gerdeci”, “Damir Fazlic”, “Durres-Kukes highway”, “Dritan Dajti” and many others. The task force investigation team is formed by Tirana Prosecution investigators and four experts that were attached three months ago to this institution. The General Prosecution sources do not say what will happen with the verifications, since the US Embassy cables themselves say that they cannot legally prove such connections. However, the Prosecution will proceed as in all other cases when they have investigated about facts made public by the media, such as the case of Damir Fazllic.

Wikileaks, US: Law breakers turned law makers

“Law Breakers Turned Law Makers”. This is the title of the cable with which the US Embassy has made a list of DP, SP and SMI politicians who have connections with the crime world.

The three greatest political forces in the country have MPs connected with organized crime, but the embassy cannot prove it through legal ways.

The new Parliament of 2009 has among the MPs drug traffickers and others involved in money sliding.

The US embassy has listed the names of the deputies, starting with Tom Doshi from the Socialist Party, for whom it writes:

“An SP MP from Shkoder, Doshi, known as the richest MP, with a declared fortune of more than $15 million and is also suspected of trafficking narcotics”.

““Representing LSI from Durres, Koka is a member of perhaps the most notorious organized crime family in Albania, with ties to narcotics and human trafficking and other illicit activities.”

“Olldashi, the current Minister of Public Works, Transport, and Telecommunication and DP MP from Fier, is suspected of smuggling goods and narcotics. Circumstantial evidence links Olldashi and Fatmir Kajolli in Fier to Minister of Justice Enkelejd Alibeaj in a scheme to release prisoners from jails to act as electoral bullies.”

“According to one SP source, FM Basha, who represents the DP in Elbasan, was involved in facilitating the release from prison of a notorious criminal in Elbasan in return for support from the criminal’s family.  Relatives of the criminal promised to “organize” people in Elbasan to support Basha.  The criminal was released on June 29, the day after the elections.”

“The 48 year old DP MP from Shkoder is a former professional wrestler with little to no formal education.  Sterkaj was previously in the SP and has been accused by a former friend of murdering a politician in Shkoder a few years ago.  Sterkaj claims to have business interests in oil, restaurants, and construction, but little is known about his activities.”

“SP MP and party General Secretary, Ruci has long-standing ties to narcotics traffickers and organized crime.  Ruci has also been banned from entering the U.S. since 2005 due to permanent visa ineligibility.”

The comment of the cable continues:

“These individuals are now MPs, have immunity under the law, and are responsible for making the laws that will propel Albania toward further Euro-Atlantic integration.”

Ambassador Withers continues with his comment:

“The seedy, possibly criminal, behavior of many of Albania’s MPs is disturbing and does not bode well for democratic development.  It is a widely held view throughout Albania that all parties have MPs with links to organized crime and accept money from organized crime.  This is a very troubling phenomenon that we and the international community will have to address at some point in the future. One bright spot, however, is that there are a few MPs who have begun to recognize that Albania should not have such characters represented in its parliament.”

And the cable concludes:

“How long it will take though to remove these ruffians from power though is another question.”

 SP: Prosecution to investigate

The Wikileaks cables for Albania seem like a Pandora Box, due to the facts and the high rank officials involved in different scandals. The Socialists have considered this as a great opportunity for the Prosecution to find leads on some open cases.

Especially the cable of June 2008 that shows the Ambassador Withers and the General Commander of that time, Luan Hoxha, mentioning the son of the Prime Minister as involved in the Gerdeci trial, according to Socialist MP Taulant Balla.

“Wikileaks and the diplomatic cables help by giving additional information on what the Prosecution has administered up to now for the Gerdec trial. I appeal the General Prosecution to start investigating on these information, by taking all necessary measures against the person that has been mentioned in this state crime, the son of the communist Sali Berisha”, Balla declared.

Not less concerning, according to Mr. Balla, is the cable that mentions the Vice Chief of Police, Agron Kulicaj, of having connections with the organized crime.

“This person should immediately leave the State Police, while the General Prosecution and other specialized institutions in this country should start investigations, since this person results of having connections with criminal and corruptive affairs”, Balla declared.

On behalf of the Socialist Party, the MP Taulant Balla appealed the prosecution to not remain silent but to conduct deep investigations regarding these events.

 Wikileaks: Olldashi denies accuastions

The Minister of Transports, Sokol Olldashi denied the cables published by Wikileaks accusing him of releasing prisoners before the general elections of 2009.

 “Enkelejd Alibeaj, then Minister of Justice, right after the elections of June 2009 has undertaken an investigation based on the Socialist Party request. What sense would it have for me to implicate the Minister of Justice for releasing people from prison, and the Minister of Justice investigating himself for the procedures of prison release. This is a total nonsense. I am ready to undergo investigations from all institutions, ready to report in front of the Albanian Parliament”, Olldashi declared.

Same as one day ago, during an interview for Top-Channel, Olldashi declared that the truth of the cables that connect him and other MPs with crime is suspicious.

“We have no confirmation if this source comes from the US Embassy or any other source that has sent the information to Wikileaks. This remains to be seen. The written style doesn’t seem official to me, sent to a serious administration such as the US administration. It looks more like typically Balkan gossips. I have had the pleasure to be Interior Minister of this country during a period full of activity in the war against criminal groups and drug traffics. I have had the chance and the privilege to give good results in this work, which has been certified by EU reports and the US State Department in its yearly report for Albania”, Olldashi declared.

One day ago, Wikileaks published a confidential document of the US Embassy in Tirana, which mentioned several important figures of the Albanian politics, accusing them of having connections with crime. 

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