Businessman Artur Shehu breaks his silence: I am a long-time land owner in Zvërnec, I don't know the investors at all
Albanian businessman Artur Shehu spoke on the Opinion show...
Albanian businessman Artur Shehu spoke on the Opinion show...

Former Minister of Health, Ilir Beqaj, has reacted publicly regarding the judicial process on the issue known as the sterilization concession. In a statement released this Sunday by his lawyer, Beqaj has reservations regarding the process.
According to Beqaj, the process is unfair and lacks transparency. He criticized the judge in the case, accusing her of inventing a "new charge" at the end of the process and denying the right to effective defense. The former minister also seems to have missed Sali Berisha and Albana Vokshi, who call him a thief.
Ilir Beqaj's public statement:
First, I would like to thank all those who have expressed support and faith in the truth that I and others are defending in Court regarding the issue of the concession "for integrated services for the provision of personalized sets of surgical instruments, the supply of sterile disposable medical material in surgical rooms, as well as the treatment of biological waste and the disinfection of surgical rooms", which is usually referred to only as "the issue of sterilization", significantly reducing all its constituent components in public opinion.

Half of our confrontation in Court is related to the truth of this case and its irrefutable evidence. The other half has long been related only to the artificial and illegal obstacles that were constantly created for us during this process, which, first and foremost, should have guaranteed the minimum rights of the accused, to understand the accusation, to receive the evidence on which the accusation is based, to speak and to have the media present in the courtroom.
There is a great similarity between the investigative process that Albana Vokshi conducted as head of the parliamentary investigative committee of her complaint and the judicial process that the Judge of the preliminary hearing conducted. Both processes lasted for months and both failed, ending with orders and schemes to silence me.
Albana Vokshi received an order to hold me hostage in the Parliament for two days without giving me the right to speak and defend myself against her accusations that have been going on for several years.

Even the Judge at the end of the trial made an absurd and unusual decision that everyone should remain silent and not talk about the essence of the case – the new accusation that she invented at the end of the trial. This was also the reason for my “outburst” at the massacre that she made of the trial and our procedural rights as defendants.
The judge decided not to explain/reason her interim decision when she invited the prosecutors to correct the charge, which was essentially a completely new charge. And there was a reason for this. In the Notice of Charge by the prosecutors and in the attached evidence there was no evidence that justified the filing of this new charge. As I, as the other defendants, as our lawyers and above all as the Prosecutors of the case themselves, we asked her to explain the reasons for this position and on which fact or evidence of the charge she based herself to claim that in this specific case I was a “thief” and a “structured criminal group”. Moreover, this is her legal obligation and my undeniable right to understand the new charge that was being made against me.

Despite these requests, the Judge decided to keep her mouth shut. So, not to speak. Then she decided that the Prosecutors should not speak or explain her new accusation either. She supposedly gave us the floor to defend ourselves, shamelessly telling us that if we had nothing to say, we might as well not speak. But how could I and others defend ourselves against a new accusation made by the Judge that only the article shows and does not explain anything about what was stolen, how much was stolen, when it was stolen, and what this criminal structure is that is not explained in any line of the accusation?! Also, does not the law regulate and oblige the cooperation of the minister with the deputy minister, does not the law regulate and oblige the cooperation of the head of the Contracting Authority with the chairman of the Concession Commission, does not the Civil Code and the contract regulate and oblige the cooperation of the Contracting Authority with the concessionaire? Therefore, this was a fictitious process, which, like the parliamentary investigative committee, should have ended with my silence. Several times I have requested the media to be present in the courtroom, because there is no secret in my defense speech. But in all cases, such a request was denied by the Judge, who, according to her, considered this entire process to be an investigative secret.

My reaction at the end of both trials was similar. In the parliamentary investigation process, I definitely had to react when Ina Zhupa and Albana Vokshi ended that whole “hostage” of mine without wanting to give me the floor. While in the trial, I decided not to stay in the courtroom that held me hostage for nine months, and in the end, the judge not only remained illegally silent, but also silenced the rest of us, the accused, our legal defense attorneys, and the prosecutors.
Naturally, Berisha and Vokshi have applauded the Judge's stance. The same judge who lifted the "house arrest" measure on Sali Berisha. I will call both of them, as well as Petrit Vasili, as witnesses in court. Let them say the word "thief" to my face and I will tell them my answer to their face.
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