The critics of Gabriel Partosh

Top Channel: Mr .Partosh, if the murders of the four citizens weren’t enough, in front of a government building in the middle of Europe, now we have a conspiracy conducted for covering the facts and evidence of the January 21st events. Cynics would say “Welcome in the Democratic Albania that aspires to enter Europe”. What do these developments mean for Albania’s reputation in the world?

Gabriel Partosh: I think that it would not be a good approach to be too cynical, and the first comment would be that Albania has had many achievements, for being a country that started democracy from zero. Naturally, today we are speaking about the current situation and not about the achievements. We are dealing with very serious accusations, such as an obvious conspiracy to a serious incident, the bloodiest in the recent years in Albania. In this sense, this will be seen as a harder hit for Albania’s reputation, as regards the democratic standard, the establishment of the rule of law, the division between the executive power with the judicial one, all matters that naturally are very important for the eventual success of Albania in the EU integration and the eventual accession in the EU. I think that this is another problem that Albania has to face and resolve.

Top Channel:  Prime Minister Berisha threatened the Prosecutor General and the President with arrest after their mandates would be over. It’s clear that we are dealing with an escalation of the rhetoric, not only in a country such as Belarus and Ukraine, but Albania, which aspires to become an EU member. Do you think that the EU should be less tolerant and hold clearer stances with a country that aspires to be an EU member, although they have other priorities for survival?

 Partosh: The first thing to be emphasized is that the threats against law enforcing agencies and the judicial system are seen as an intervention in the work of these agencies, and it will be considered as a very serious case of attempting to influence their independency and the way how they make justice. Should the EU adopt a harsher stance? The problem is that the EU is not making critics against the aspiring countries, countries that seem to have entered the democracy road and the establishment of the rule of law, even when they have risked to make steps back, such as in some Balkan countries. I think that we are not talking about strong verbal stances here, rather than having EU standing to the conditions that they have settled themselves, which are very clear conditions. EU has criticized the latest developments in Albania, in a very balanced and discreet way. The fact that Albania has failed twice with the EU candidate status, is a clear expression of the EU opinion. We are dealing with actions, rather than words, not only for what Albania needs to do, but also the way EU uses to encourage Albania for better performances.

Top Channel: As for the investigations, the opposition and their leader announced their readiness to answer to justice, but they say that the Prime Minister and the Mayor, as Interior Minister on the time of this tragedy, should be investigated for the January 21st events. Wouldn’t it be an encouraging action if Prime Minister Berisha would offer himself to be investigated, in order to show to the world and his country that no one is above the law in Albania?

Gabriel Partosh: In general, it would be encouraging if all parties would cooperate for a complete investigation of the January 21st events, together with the General Prosecution, and leave beside their political points of view and disagreements, in order to be part of the investigation that would show that really no one stands above the law. No one should argue, besides some opposition members, that we are dealing with a specific case. Naturally, there has been violence by the protesters, and this should be taken in consideration. If this will be proved in court, it still will be not enough to justify that blood that was shed. And if there is really a conspiracy for concealing the evidence and facts, this cannot be justified neither.

Top Channel: The problem is that if this happens, there is the concern that the justice links in Albania are not functional. One would say that the Prosecution doesn’t function, others would say that even if the Prosecution functions, the Courts do not function and let people get away with their crimes. In this context, if we add the Prime Minister’s threats towards the Prosecution General and the President, what chances are there for Albania to earn the EU candidate status this year?

Gabriel Partosh:  I think that Albania will have to face some obstacles. One of which is the one that you referred to, the fact that no high-profile politician has ever been sentenced for the corruption charges in the recent years, and no one can deny that there has been corruption. It is a matter of judicial processing of an individual that has been involved in a corruption case or not. But I think that this is a very important obstacle that Albania needs to surpass. In other words, if Albania will not follow the road that ahs been set, one of these cases is to guarantee that those who are accused for corruption, regardless their status, will be prosecuted and if the accusations are proved true, they will be found guilty. This is a very important condition that should be fulfilled, in parallel with the guarantee of the judicial independence, which is a very important issue.

Naturally, by showing in front of the world, Albania will not make steps back in the democratic standards, but will try to recuperate the terrain that has lost in the recent years. Not only that, but will advance even further in this direction.

Interviewed by ARBEN MANAJ

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