The US Ambassador in Tirana, Donald Lu, had a question and answer
conversation with citizens. When asked the decriminalization process and
the actions taken so far by the Prosecution of Serious Crimes,
Ambassador Lu gave this answer:
“What we value the most is not the rhetoric, but rather the actions that have been taken by the Prosecutor General, the parliament, party leaders and others. It is important to continue the decriminalization process that was begun with the December 2014 agreement between the parties. We continue to encourage all political parties in Albania to remove individuals involved in criminal or corrupt activities. We applaud the actions of the Prosecutor General to bring charges against two MPs.
Ambassador Lu also answered if it is legal to establish the National Bureau of Investigation.
“Let me try to explain why we believe that it is important for Albania to create a National Bureau of Investigation. First, there needs to be a law enforcement body with advanced investigation capacity. Second, there also needs to be a body that has the authority to investigate officials at the highest levels. Our team from the American FBI was here this week to discuss how we can support the creation of the NBI in its efforts to fight corruption, organized crime and drug trafficking. The Prosecutor General’s Office and judicial institutions should continue to fulfill their responsibilities to enforce the law and ensure the due process”, the US Ambassador answered.
Ambassador Lu was also asked about the novelty that brings in Tirana the candidacy of Gjergj Bojaxhiu.
“I think these upcoming local elections are important. I don’t want to comment on specific candidates today in this webchat, but we are watching the process of nomination very carefully. Where we see names of people we believe to be corrupt or linked to criminal activities we are telling party leaders. The Albanian people should have high expectations of their political representatives and they should be honest when they believe these candidates are criminals. We believe that all candidates in the local elections should meet the highest ethical standards–no candidate should have criminal ties or criminal records”, the Ambassador replied.
Top Channel asked the ambssador if during the meeting with the official of the opposition, they have suggested any name from the Democratic Party MPs who have had legal problems and should be removed as part of the decriminalization process, but this question did not receive an answer. The ambassador also replied with silence to the question of a citizen, if the US Embassy had helped creating a list of MPs with judiciary problems.
Top Channel
