Irena Gjoka as the shame of reborn justice

2025-05-05 19:52:00, Opinione Andi Bushati

Have both levels of vetting, both the Supreme Court and the General Prosecutor's Office, failed due to their inability to uncover the truth about the President of the GJKKO? It is difficult to believe this hypothesis...

Sali Berisha has once again done what he does best: denounce. This time, as he was leaving the SPAK court, his pen fell on the star judge of the justice reform, the one who has taken on many of the sensational trials. Berisha has proven with original documents from Greece that she was convicted in the neighboring country for trying to cross the border with a forged visa.

Up to this point, the story is well-known. At the height of the trial against the elected mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, the Greek media made this scandal known. By telling the story of the lady with three surnames (Spata from her maiden name; Maneku from her first marriage, with whom she had attempted to go to Greece; Gjoka from her second marriage, which she used to manipulate Vetting), they attempted to cast doubt on this rigged process from start to finish.

But, at this point, the issue is not about Mrs. Gjoka's personal fate. She can best use the justification that Edi Rama has repeated, dozens of times, for all the bandits of the Renaissance who were burned one after another by the decriminalization law: such was the time and such were the opportunities for Albanians to move freely.

So simply, she could have been defended with a "youthful mistake" from 20 or so years ago.

The problem here is that the symbolism of her case is one of those that tarnishes the entire justice reform. And not in one, but in several stages. First, because this story shows us that such characters with vulnerable moral credibility have penetrated the draconian sieve of vetting. And this is not simply for the youthful mistake of December 2002, but for the unscrupulous falsification of the document through which she managed to enter among the elected judges of the country. There, Ms. Gjoka has openly lied by saying that she has never been convicted or deported abroad.

But does it end here? Of course not. When this scandal broke, initially in the Greek newspaper Ta Nea, another institution of the new justice, one of those that Veliaj said in the wiretaps from prison that are the product of our socialist votes, openly came to her defense. The High Judicial Council produced a statement with the speed of light that she was being attacked, seriously damaging her image. The “government of judges” remained unperturbed by the strong denunciations and did not take a single step to find the truth about the president of the GJKKO who was suspected of having cheated in violation of the law.

Only when the Greek media continued with documents that made it inevitable to turn a blind eye to the scandal did they ask the responsible prosecutor's office to verify. This prosecutor's office continued the game of hiding the crime. A full year has passed since this institution confirmed to the Lapsi.al editorial team with an official document that it was investigating the case of Irena Gjoka in Greece.

But, for 12 months they were unable to provide an answer, nor to extract from the archives the document of the Ioannina court that Berisha made public today.

Have both levels of vetting, the Supreme Court of Kosovo and the General Prosecutor's Office, failed due to their inability to uncover the truth about this character? It is difficult to believe this hypothesis, especially if you take a look at the sensational judicial cases that Ms. Gjoka has put her heart into. She is behind the isolation of the opposition leader Berisha. Although the latter and his lawyers requested her resignation several times for conflict of interest, since when he was president he had dismissed her with his signature, she did not leave the dubious process that kept her locked up at home for a moment. She also contributed to the denial of Alfred Beleri's oath as mayor of Himara, justifying a fabricated imprisonment with false evidence and witnesses convicted by the police.

If you take a look at the press coverage of its decisions, you will find suspicions about delays in issuing arrest warrants for the bosses of the incinerators who managed to escape. You will see the release from seizure of properties for a builder in the center of Tirana who is very closely connected to the government.

So, from the actions she has taken in carrying out her duties, it is easy to understand that Ms. Gjoka has been harsh with opponents of the government and lenient with those close to her. And perhaps this best explains why all the links in the system that should have penalized her have shown tolerance towards her.

This is enough to understand that the documents of her conviction in Ioannina, which Sali Berisha made public today, have nothing to do with the careless blunder of a young woman eager to cross the border. The way in which the manipulation of the system was tolerated and how other bodies then resorted to hiding this, proves more of a hostage situation. For the captured people who have been put in charge of the reborn justice.

Precisely for this reason, the incident involving Irena Gjoka two decades ago is not simply a personal story. It is one of those examples that is adding to the stain of shame on the justice reform, which the more time passes, the more indefensible it becomes, even by its fanatical supporters./ CNA