VOA: "House arrest" for former Prime Minister Berisha

2024-11-27 12:11:00, Politikë CNA

VOA: "House arrest" for former Prime Minister Berisha

Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha

Former prime minister Sali Berisha regains full freedom. Today the Special Court against Organized Crime and Corruption accepted his lawyer's request, and ordered the revocation of house arrest, a measure taken after Mr. Berisha had earlier refused to comply with the Court's order to appear twice a month , next to a judicial police officer. The former prime minister had considered such a measure unconstitutional, insisting that the authorization of the parliament should have been requested first.

Last week, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the Special Prosecutor's Office, assessing that the mandatory measure to appear in the judicial police "does not limit his personal freedoms", while regarding the measure banning him from leaving the country, he emphasized that "the petitioner in the capacity of a member of parliament does not enjoy the protection of special in this aspect".

Mr. Berisha was put under investigation, under suspicion of corruption in the case of the privatization procedures of the former Partizani sports club. According to the Special Prosecutor's Office, he is suspected of favoring his son-in-law Jamarbër Malltezi, one of the owners of the land where the sports complex was located, on which a group of buildings later flourished.

Taking advantage of his position as prime minister, according to the investigation, he is suspected of having approved laws and by-laws, adapting them to the needs of the former owners, and that through administrative controls, pressure has been exerted on state structures to speed up the procedures and the establishment of these structures available to Mr. Malltezi for the realization of privatization.

Repeatedly, the former prime minister has rejected the claims of the Prosecutor's Office, and has always talked about a political background in the investigation launched against him. After his house arrest, Mr. Berisha considered himself a "political convict from the regime of Prime Minister Edi Rama".

A few weeks ago, the Special Prosecutor's Office announced the closure of the investigations and the sending of the case for trial. In the middle of December, it is expected that a decision will be taken on the request of the Prosecution at the preliminary hearing.