Karamuço: Institutional mechanisms against corruption must be expanded in Albania

2024-08-12 22:08:00, Aktualitet CNA

Karamuço: Institutional mechanisms against corruption must be expanded in

Ervin Karamuço

In Albania, the fight against corruption and organized crime continues to remain a challenge for the country.

International reports show that despite continuous efforts in the fight against corruption, this phenomenon remains a serious concern for Albania.

The latest report of the US Department of State on Human Rights noted that during 2023 in Albania "corruption was present in all branches and levels of government, although the authorities made progress in the fight against corruption and towards ending impunity.

The Professor of Criminology at the University of Tirana, Ervin Karamuço, says that the institutional mechanisms to prevent, investigate and attack corruption should be expanded and that the fight should not be limited only by the justice institutions. In an interview for the Voice of America, he evaluates the work of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime so far. "We will see in the following days and weeks, we will have other arrests that will mostly reinforce the idea that SPAK is attacking from all sides, that SPAK does not question anyone, only the law," he said.

Voice of America: Albania undertook an unusual reform to rebuild the entire justice system. It seems like there was a successor. How deep are the links between organized crime and politics in Albania?

Ervin Karamuço: We are currently in the phase of an initiative of the Albanian Parliament regarding another institutional reform, why not a legal one, to fight corruption. I know that measures have been taken and the first groups of high-level experts have been set up, who, in parallel, as it once happened with the experts on the reform of justice, are throwing out the first ideas of how the institutions will react to this wave of the so-called cloud of corruption, which is being felt, as mentioned in the State Department's report, in all branches of government. Of course, progress has been made, we are looking at some kind of reflection on the part of the institutions, let's see in the future how it will be possible effectively to decrease, to reduce to the maximum the phenomenon of corruption in all these institutions. We see that not only the judiciary has been affected, on the contrary, there is information that even judges and prosecutors who have passed the vetting continue to have not only inappropriate contacts, not only a poor performance in their duties, but also continue to consume acts corrupt. These are noticed through the denunciations of the citizens themselves, of various lawyers and so on. But it is not only the judiciary, it is also the public administration also involved in corrupt acts. Of course, the administration is a very large number, almost 180 thousand together with public corporations, so more work is needed, more institutions, which cannot be solved with SPAK alone. When we talk about corruption, we only talk about 20 prosecutors who investigate, but there should also be other institutions that conduct a preliminary investigation in an administrative way. This is very important. We currently have independent institutions, such as the High State Control, but still insufficient to enter and highlight all these phenomena, to denounce them to the law enforcement bodies.

Voice of America: One of the main tools in the fight against organized crime is the investigation of their assets and financial resources, how difficult is this fight in the Albanian context?

Ervin Karamuço : In the Albanian context, only in recent years has there been a very large demand from the law enforcement institutions for persons who are not in police or investigative profiles, but are in profiles related to finance, banks, with accounting, and others. So it is all these areas that there is an urgent need to introduce them into the system, that is, within the institutions and to use their skills in what we commonly call, even here in the United States, "following the money" ", "follow the money". SPAK is doing this. It has set up a special unit, but this unit should also be distributed to the institutions of general jurisdiction when talking about the prosecution of the ordinary jurisdiction, the courts and so on, because they have a need to see the phenomenon and to fight as much as possible a lot of cleaning of the products of the criminal offense, especially by criminal organizations.

Voice of America: In Albania, for several years there has been a construction boom, and a debate about where the money comes from. There are studies that say that dirty money is behind a good part of these investments. The authorities deny this theory. Meanwhile, in the annual report of the Special Prosecutor's Office for the past year, it is noted that the construction and creation of commercial companies are the most widespread form of money laundering. What is your rating?

Ervin Karamuço: We are at a stage where we have succeeded in leaving the gray list of countries that are seen as a potential risk for money laundering. This means that we have strengthened our institutions and systems of verification and alert to some extent, but on the other hand we do not have an efficient control regarding what is happening in the Albanian free market, who are the money flows? We are still not able to get to the origin of many of the big investments that are being made by some so-called investors, but when you look at their past, it is not that they have gradually appreciated in this wealth, but the money is justified from secondary income, other persons, borrowing, not only from individuals, but also from financial institutions. This certainly makes you question it. For this, it is necessary to invest and repair the role of agencies that monitor money flows, especially illegal ones in Albania. A single agency such as the one under the Ministry of Finance cannot do this. It is impossible to do. But we need to establish other agencies that somehow coordinate the work so that these builders, even in some of the 10 main voices that launder money in Albania through financial activities, think that there is someone who supervises them and that the work theirs will be discovered and their assets will be frozen to pass in favor of the state afterwards.

Voice of America: The Prosecutor's Office and the Special Court have investigated and arrested high political figures. SPAK has been the center of criticism, especially from the opposition, which says that it has been put at the service of the government. What is your opinion?

Ervin Karamuço: From all the information that I have as a professor, I can say that SPAK is so far walking on the right tracks, it is independent, impartial and because of this there is an increased nervousness from all those politicians who have been charged or are expected to be charged, they see this as an institution that should never have opened its doors in such a comfortable and cozy environment in which all those corrupt acts were being carried out for years years that are superimposed on our lives and we look at them daily. It is very difficult today to accuse SPAK, it is very easy to congratulate him for the work he is doing. We will see in the days and in the coming weeks we will have other arrests that will mostly reinforce the idea that SPAK strikes from all sides, that SPAK does not question anyone, only the law./ VOA