REPORT/ Council of American Ambassadors: Sanctions and measures against Berisha, illegal and without evidence

2024-03-09 12:16:00, Politikë CNA

REPORT/ Council of American Ambassadors: Sanctions and measures against Berisha,

The Council of American Ambassadors in a report on the Balkans has emphasized that the sanctioning of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha is illegal and is not supported by evidence. According to the Council of American Ambassadors, this is not the best example that Albania should set.

According to the Council of American Ambassadors, Yuri Kim, when asked about the measure against Berisha, failed to provide any explanation for this, questioning the American tradition of due process.

"Ambassador Kim and her staff assured us that the evidence supporting the determination was substantial, but firmly communicated that they could not provide us with any of it. They also acknowledged that the process was an entirely closed-door determination, exempt from the adversarial process and without right of appeal. This is very unusual, if not unique, in American jurisprudence. Berisha sympathizers complained to us that his determination was similar to a College of Stars process, the antithesis of the American tradition of due process. However, Ambassador Kim told us privately that the fight against corruption was of such fundamental importance to US policy and such a high priority that Biden administration officials felt it was important to make an example of someone—for emphasized that no one is above the law or immune when it comes to crimes of corruption. We take into account the fact that Berisha is 79 years old and can be considered to be nearing the end of his political life, an irreplaceable political figure for some, but it is not the American way of justice to target someone else to teach an actual culprit a lesson. This would be more similar to the Chinese expression “kill the chickens to scare the monkeys. Berisha has filed a lawsuit in France against the US Secretary of State and he is represented pro bono by a prominent Washington lobbyist," the report reads.

The report underlines that the "house arrest" measure imposed on Berisha has been imposed even though the prosecutor has not filed a charge against him.

"In January 2024, a court ordered Sali Berisha under house arrest in connection with an investigation dating back to alleged corruption during Berisha's 2005-2009 term as prime minister involving the privatization of government-owned real estate. The house arrest stopped "For Berisha to meet with anyone outside his immediate family and to leave the country. The house arrest was imposed even though the prosecutor had not filed an indictment against Berisha," the report states.

The report on governance begins with the criticism and rejection of Edi Rama and his subordinates, who refused to cooperate in providing information, the Mission raises the suspicion that this was done to hide the current state of the country.

"Prime Minister Edi Rama and members of his cabinet did not make announcements. It is difficult to determine whether this was due to lack of time or to overlook and discredit anything critical that could come out of our mission, but Prime Minister Rama remained a constant topic of conversation in almost all of our meetings," the report said.

The Council of American Ambassadors brings to attention the findings and denunciations of the monopolization of all powers by Rama, as well as his efforts to hinder the opposition in the elections to regain its governing position.

"Prime Minister Rama and his Socialist Party of Albania now enjoy virtual monopolies of national government and local and regional elected offices. The once ruling Democratic Party made a series of miscalculations and abandoned parliamentary seats in favor of joining street protests in 2017 and then boycotted local elections in 2019 that he claimed were rigged. We visited just before the national municipal elections and the Democratic Party was struggling to regain seats but was badly hampered by internal divisions, its lobbying and financing which, according to some, was helped by Rama's party", the report states.

The report also comments on the political situation in the country.

"The various opposition parties of Albania presented during our meetings a series of complaints against Edi Rama's government. Opponents said that his party monopolizes power; buys opponents; uses government power to suppress the opposition and punish opponents economically; is using judicial reform to politicize the courts and undermine the independence of the judiciary [5] and has links to and profits from international organized crime. Opposition is opposition business, so few of these claims were surprising, but they reminded us how suspicions of the EU for the sustainability of Albania's democracy and the intertwined problems of crime and corruption are hindering progress towards one of the country's main goals: EU membership," the report says./ CNA