ROLLING TRACK RECORD REPORT May 2021 Prepared And
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Rr. “Alqi Boshnjaku” (ish Reshit Collaku) Pallati Bora, Ap.11 TIRANË [email protected] [email protected] ROLLING TRACK RECORD REPORT May 2021 Prepared and published by: Legal and Social Studies Center, 05 June 2021. Project: “Monitoring SPAK and the Special Court: Building a track record of prosecutions and convictions?” Table of Contents Case 1 - SPAK v. Alban Toro 2 Case 2 - SPAK and electoral crime 4 Case 3 - SPAK and Sali Berisha 6 Case 4 - SPAK and the reopening of the ‘Gërdec’ case 8 Case 5- Update: SPAK v. Adriatik Llalla 10 1 Rr. “Alqi Boshnjaku” (ish Reshit Collaku) Pallati Bora, Ap.11 TIRANË [email protected] [email protected] Case 1 - SPAK v. Alban Toro Keywords: HJC member, documents’ falsification, Special Court, SPAK. 1. Facts: Alban Toro was elected as a member of the HJC (High Judicial Council), by the decision No. 18/2018, of the Parliament of Albania. Mr. Toro was part of the members of the HJC coming from advocacy. Since his election, he has performed his duty as a full member of the H.C.J. as provided by the Constitutional amendments regarding the new organs of the judiciary, according to the justice reform. In December 2020, the news network News 24, aired an investigation on Toro, discovering that he did not fulfil the criteria to be elected, despite his appointment as a member of the H.J.C. He had not exercised his activity as a lawyer for a minimum of an uninterrupted period of 10 years, as prescribed by the law. The journalist of the TV network found out that Toro had suspended no less than three times his commercial license to exercise his activity as a lawyer at the N.B.C (National Business Center). On the 11th of February 2021, the lawyer Ndue Pjetra, filed a criminal complaint in SPAK against Mr. Alban Toro, accusing the latter of lying about whether he fulfilled the criteria for his actual position. Mr. Ndue Pjetra, stated that Mr. Toro had not exercised his activity as a lawyer long enough to comply with the minimal criteria needed to become a member of the H.J.C. The law prescribes that in order to be eligible to apply as a member of the H.J.C. from the advocacy ranks, a candidate must exercise such profession for an uninterrupted time of 10 years and have 15 years of overall experience. According to the lawyer Ndue Pjetra, Mr.Toro had interrupted his professional activity in 2012, thus presenting to the Parliament, falsified documents. 2. Procedural history: In February 2021, the lawyer Ndue Pjetra filed the complaint in SPAK againt Alban Toro. SPAK initially decided not to conduct an investigation on this case, reasoning that there were not enough grounds to do so. On appeal by the petitioner the case was sent to the Special Court. 2 Rr. “Alqi Boshnjaku” (ish Reshit Collaku) Pallati Bora, Ap.11 TIRANË [email protected] [email protected] 3. Issue/s: The main issue which the Special Court dealt with, was: a- If SPAK had to carry on with the investigation on the crime of falsification of documents? 4. Holding: On the 26th of May 2021, the Special Court ordered SPAK to register the criminal proceeding and to start an investigation on the defendant. 5. Rationale The Special Court stated, that the complaint made by Mr. Pjetra, fulfilled all the criteria, to lead to a formal opening of an investigation by SPAK. 6. Comment: Despite the fact that this case attracted attention only after the complaint filed in February 2021 by the lawyer Ndue Pjetra, the case had already been under media focus. Some important media, publically denounced the case regarding the falsification of documents, right at the moment of Mr.Toro’s election as a member of the H.J.C, meaning from 2018 onwards. This case is similar to the one involving the member of the Special Appeals Chamber (AC), Luan Daci,1 sentenced for the crime of falsification of documents. The initial unwillingness of SPAK to act, has been interpreted by the media as yet another suspicious case on the seriousness of the members of the new justice organs. This is further burdened by other circumstances, such as the fact that the wife of Mr. Toro is at the moment a judge. Having regard to the fact that Mr. Toro, due to his function also controls the careers of judges, this puts him in a very uncomfortable position and in a potential conflict of interest. It remains to be seen, how SPAK and the Special Court will act, despite the fact that the case of Mr. Daci, offers by now a consolidated precedent for similar cases. On the other hand it is of interest to understand the criteria that SPAK has used in initially dismissing this case. 1 See Case 1, https://lssc-al.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ROLLING-TRACK-RECORD-REPORT-MARCH- 2021-LSSC.pdf 3 Rr. “Alqi Boshnjaku” (ish Reshit Collaku) Pallati Bora, Ap.11 TIRANË [email protected] [email protected] Case 2 - SPAK and electoral crime Keywords: election’s manipulation, active corruption, passive corruption 1. Facts: In December of 2020, the Law Commission of the Parliament approved an amendment to the competences of SPAK related to electoral crimes, more specifically those crimes involving vote buying, or influencing the vote in exchange of different favors. In the same fashion, the Law Commission vested District Prosecution Offices and SPAK with the duty of informing the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) on investigations involving the above crimes. On the 11th of April 2021, SPAK initiated a proceeding against the news portal lapsi.al2 regarding the publication of a list of voters, containing sensitive information and thought to be authored by the Socialist Party (SP). Such investigation was put to a halt by the ECHR, due to concerns over media freedom infringements. On the 25th of April, 2021, Albania held the General Parliamentary Elections. Despite the fact that these elections were relatively quiet and the results were available within 48 hours, some electoral subjects and independent candidates expressed their doubts on the fairness of the process, claiming irregularities and manipulation of votes. Such irregularities fall mostly under the following different categories: a- Multiple voting b- Voluntary writings on ballots, making them invalid c- Vote buying For such reasons the General Prosecutor’s Office and SPAK have received a number of complaints on the above mentioned irregularities. 2. Procedural history: SPAK has received around 91 complaints from different subjects. 55 of them were deposited by the Democratic Party (DP). Till the 27th of April, 33 criminal investigations have been registered by SPAK for electoral crimes. The crimes to be investigated are active and passive corruption during the electoral process, as well as abuse of public functions for electoral gains. 2 See Case 1 https://lssc-al.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ROLLING-TRACK-RECORD-REPORT-APRIL- 2021-LSSC.pdf 4 Rr. “Alqi Boshnjaku” (ish Reshit Collaku) Pallati Bora, Ap.11 TIRANË [email protected] [email protected] 3. Issue /s: The main issue/s SPAK has to face are: a- If there has been multiple voting and if yes, who have been involved in such processes? b- If there have been episodes of vote buying? c- If there has been any abuse of power in order to influence voting? 4. Comment: There are solid expectations that the new competencies on electoral crimes, with which SPAK has been endowed, will produce some results. Despite that, SPAK’s history offers some negative precedents in this field. In July 2020,3 SPAK declared that it did not have the necessary competencies to investigate the now famous file 339, divided in fractions. Part of such file were also some wiretappings who implicated high public officials in a process of vote rigging in the general elections of 2017 in the Dibra Region. Despite the fact that the investigation was initiated by SPAK, it was later turned to the District Prosecution Office. None of the state functionaries or politicians involved were investigated on the occasion. A few local electoral commissioners were arrested and condemned. Regarding the accusation for the recent electoral crimes of 2021, SPAK faces a difficult task. Firstly, SPAK competencies in matters of electoral crimes have increased. Secondly, SPAK operates in parallel fashion to the Electoral College, where electoral subjects have deposited their complaints for the irregularities of the process. Till now, organs like the Commission of Complaints and Sanctions (CCS) have turned down most of the complaints from the political parties or independent candidates for the annulling of the results due to claimed irregularities. If those requests do not find a solution in the Electoral College, it will be relatively more difficult for SPAK to investigate electoral crimes. If the Electoral College, will not accept the arguments and the evidence of the political parties, SPAK will be less inclined to investigate electoral crimes. 3See Case 6 https://lssc-al.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ROLLING-TRACK-RECORD-REPORT- DOWNLOAD-IN-ENGLISH-JULY-2020-LSSC-1.pdf 5 Rr. “Alqi Boshnjaku” (ish Reshit Collaku) Pallati Bora, Ap.11 TIRANË [email protected] [email protected] Case 3 - SPAK and Sali Berisha. Keywords: corruption, SPAK, USA, non grata 1. Facts: On the 19th of May 2021, the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, published a message in his Twitter account, stating that Mr. Sali Berisha and his family were designated as persona non grata in his country. The barring of Mr. Berisha to enter the U.S.