United States, the European Union and Great Britain expressed their concerns on Wednesday after reports that Albanian justice officials have received death threats.
Their reaction comes after reports in the Albanian media that an associate of justice has confessed that one “of the criminal gangs operating in Lushnje has made plans to kill two female prosecutors and a lawyer.”
US Embassy in Tirana said on Wednesday in a response that “a justice system that operates without fear and intimidation is a legitimate demand of the Albanian people, and the United States is deeply concerned about threats of violence against law enforcement officials who are work to make Albania safe, prosperous and more democratic American in Tirana”.
The High Prosecution Council of Albania called an emergency meeting this week, where it decided to reorganize the defense of prosecutors.
The American embassy demands that “investigators, prosecutors and judges should be able to perform their duties without threats or intimidation”.
Even the office of the European Union delegation in Tirana requested the commitment of the Albanian authorities to quickly investigate these threats and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Meanwhile, the British embassy stressed that “all those who work in the justice system must be free to do their work, without fear or favor”.
On Monday, after the meeting of the High Council of Prosecution, the head of this institution, Alfred Balla, said that some decisions of the Council of Ministers will be changed to provide more protection for prosecutors.
The Minister of the Interior, Taulant Balla, vowed that the State Police and the Guard of the Republic “will increase security measures for justice officials.”
The person who agreed to cooperate with justice, Artan Tafani, was arrested on September 28 and confessed to 16 criminal events, including six murders.
The police said that four murders were committed in Albania, while two more in Greece. Tafani claims that the executions were carried out on the orders of Laert Haxhi, the leader of the gang of which he himself was a part.
He claims that Haxhiu had requested the murder of the prosecutor of SPAK, Doloreza Musabelliu and the prosecutor of Lushnja, Mirela Selimi, because of the investigations they had carried out against him and the gang he led.
Haxhiu was arrested on May 23 of this year in Greece, after being declared internationally wanted for a series of serious criminal events, the Radio Free Europe reported. The court of Ioannina rejected the request for extradition, while the prosecution filed an appeal.
The authorities in Albania have stated that they will continue their efforts to extradite him to bring him to justice for all the crimes he is suspected of having committed./abcnews.al
