Why the Doctor is wrong to attack Rusmal / "The value when attacked multiplies"

2023-04-26 09:13:00, Politikë CNA

Why the Doctor is wrong to attack Rusmal / "The value when attacked

Ilir Rusmali

Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha has made several contradictory statements regarding the former Deputy Prime Minister during the Berisha government, Ilir Rusmali.

In 2007, he stated that he had accepted Rusmal's resignation, believing that corruption had nothing to do with it, while in 2023, he said that he had left office due to corruption.

Sali Berisha for Rusmal in 2007 and today in 2023.

2007:

"I accepted Mr. Rusmali's resignation with my deepest conviction that he had no connection, except blood ties, with my brother's attempt to profit in tenders. I accepted Mr. Rusmali's resignation because I cannot refuse the new standard that my colleague set for Albanian politics and officials".

2023:

"He behaves in this way because he was removed from the post of deputy prime minister due to corruption. I told him to submit his resignation, but his removal was Sali Berisha's decisive decision against a man who flagrantly and corruptly violated the law. The General Director of The prisons open a tender and the brother of Ilir Rusmajli goes to the tender. And the director records it. When he threatened his brother with the deputy prime minister. This is the story. Iliri fired the director in violation of the law. It happened that the day the scandal happened I had to go to lunch outside, Ilir Rusmajli out of control took him and dismissed him at the time when it was the competence of the prime minister. I came back, he received a dismissal".

Below is the full statement of former Minister of Justice Ilir Rusmali on the day he announced his resignation:

Tirana, on November 14, 2007

From this country, we have communicated together on quite a few occasions and we have made known to the public opinion serious cases of corrupt phenomena that have occurred in Albania and have coexisted with us for a long time.

Together we have achieved discrete success in denouncing these serious cases of corruption, we have been able to shock corruption, scare it and, in some cases, even fight it. This is one thing for which I thank you all for your cooperation.

As the Minister of Justice, I have often come out publicly to denounce corruption, because I have considered that it is, unfortunately, (was, unfortunately) the only weapon left in the hands of the institution and the state official to do the duty of him, in the conditions when the law was caught by corruption, in the conditions when the institutions were caught by corruption.

I hope that thanks to this action, thanks to this attitude, thanks to the cooperation with you, we were able to break the iron frame with which we were surrounded. I have made the action, based on a single weapon, on the morality of the individual. I have done the action, based on a single weapon, on the moral policy that we should set as a model.

I have the models in hand, I wanted to use the models for my battle against corruption.

Last night, the Socialist Party publicly demanded my resignation for an issue that has nothing to do with me. Last night, the SP officially took the side of corruption to recreate the framework that we had decided to break by force. Therefore, I must once again appeal to morality and moral politics.

Contrary to what the spokeswoman of the SP expected, I am here (and I thank you) to declare my resignation, from the position of the minister of justice, in the name of this morality and this battle for the fight against corruption. This is my political message.

Regarding the issue raised in the media by the former director of prisons, I want to emphasize one thing:

I was determined from the position of the Minister to do all the necessary investigation into the accusations, to request from the competent institutions all the necessary investigation into the accusations that have nothing to do with the Minister of Justice.

I did not have the opportunity, because the Socialist Party preceded me with the request for resignation. But I assure you, that my last act in the position of minister is to ask the Prime Minister of Albania to engage his internal audit, his Anticorruption Department, to ask the Prosecutor's Office to conduct a quick investigation and until at the end of the incident, the event, the accusations, and, in the end, they, not me, they make the public clarification of the opinion. They tell you who is responsible for that incident and who should be punished for that incident.

The Minister of Justice paves the way for the investigation, because the Minister of Justice has faith in the law.

The Minister of Justice paves the way for the investigation, because the Minister of Justice has the law and morality as his only weapons.

Anduena Llabani, Vizion Plus

Question: Will you continue your legal battle even after your resignation, regarding the accusations made against you by Mr. Shehri?

I believe, and I have the impression that you also believe, that this whole event is much more than the proportions of Mr. Shehri, however, time will tell and you will write about it. My story with Shehri ends at the moment when Mr. Shehri took an active action, allowed the release of prisoners from Albanian prisons in violation of the law. At that time the incident started and it belongs to the period of May.

At that time, Mr. Shehri, in a response, made direct threats to the Minister of Justice about tapes or recordings that he had with his family members. At that time, I informed the Prime Minister about the threats and told the Prime Minister: Either the public official should be fired, because he is acting illegally, or the Minister of Justice should resign. The two cannot stay in office together. I stuck to this opinion until the end.

The issue is very specific. The matter can be investigated. The persons involved in that matter can be investigated, as the ignorance of the minister, under any circumstances, regarding the history of tenders, the impossibility of the minister, under any circumstances, to influence the tenders that were held somewhere else and not in the Ministry of Justice.

But, this is a story you can investigate in time. You only need to convey to the Albanians that the tender is not current. The tender belongs to a period of many months ago. The tender has nothing to do with the motives for which I requested not the dismissal of the Director of the Prisons Police, but the dismissal of the General Director of Prisons, for a group of extremely serious circumstances and facts that undermined the integrity of the institution, first of all , the illegal release of extremely dangerous prisoners.

Of course, I can understand that in the battle against corruption, sometimes people have to retreat, because corruption is too strong. But we must never stop the battle, because otherwise corruption wins.

In my political function, which does not end here, you can be sure that my fight against corruption will continue with great determination, with all the tools that I will have at my disposal.

Elona Meço, Top Chanel

Question: Since now, both of you have resigned, both Mr. Shehri and you, do you think this is a favorable situation for the prime minister to clarify the situation?

I ask the prime minister and his structures, I ask the prosecutor's office, to clarify the situation surrounding the incident and the accusation as quickly as possible, because Albanians must know the truth. With my resignation, I want to help this process, but I want to set an example of a responsible official (I believe I can give this) and an example of a responsible politician, because the politician resigns when he wants the law to work and he hides neither behind the chair nor in front of it.

Flori Serjani, "Shqip" newspaper

-Mr. Rusmali. You said that you submitted the request to the Prime Minister for the dismissal of the Director of Prisons. Have you presented him with the documented materials about the violations committed by Mr. Shehri? Why did the prime minister not approve your request?

This is a question you should address to the relevant institutions. I can make available to you the documents I prepared at that time. I will be able to make available to you the documents that accompanied the second request for the dismissal of Mr. Shehri. These are all very serious things that have nothing to do with tenders. Tenders were not developed by the ministry, tenders were developed by the General Directorate of Prisons.

For your information, the said tender was canceled once due to serious deficiencies by the tender commission of the Directorate of Prisons, and at that time I was not a minister at all.

Sonila Pepa, Top Media

You sent a letter to the Prime Minister on May 9, 2007, where you say that Mr. Shehri has allowed the release of dangerous persons and this is a very serious charge?

You are selecting the facts again. I did not communicate the release of dangerous persons to the Albanian Prime Minister, I communicated it to all Albanians.

The Minister of Justice has made reports on this work. The Minister of Justice has fought for this job. The Minister of Justice has accused the institutions of this country that have the duty of implementing the law for not implementing it, for collaborating with criminality.

Of course, this is a public accusation that the Minister of Justice has made to corrupt people. If the tide turns back one day, that's one thing you can understand very well.

I understand, I had foreseen the turning back of the wave, but the public function requires me to stay with the wave even by resigning./ CNA.al