In Tirana, the Special Court adjourned again for tomorrow the trial related to the security measure against former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, a person under investigation for the case of the former Partizani sports complex.
The court rejected the request of his lawyers to remove judge Irena Gjoka from the judging panel.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office has requested house arrest with police supervision for former Prime Minister Berisha.
Today’s session in the Special Court on the new measure of arrest against former Prime Minister Sali Berisha was mostly focused on the examination of the demands of his lawyers.
Their request for the removal of judge Irena Gjoka from the judicial body, that for the admission of the media in following the process, as well as the request for sending the case to the Constitutional Court, was rejected.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office received authorization from the Assembly to raise the measure of arrest against Mr. Berisha, a person under investigation for the Partizani case, due to the obligation to appear, which he did not respect under house arrest under police supervision.
Mr. Berisha’s lawyers commented that the court cannot impose police surveillance, or limit his freedom of speech, due to his political activity.
They announced that even though the Court rejected the request for the removal of Judge Gjoka, who is also the head of the Special Court, they repeated this request for the second time.
“We did this because this court, for the first time, has opened a precedent: it continues the trial with a motion to dismiss without judgment. As well as the incidental judgment we requested. All our demands have been dropped without a decision on the request for exemption,” said lawyer Genc Gjokutaj, who represents Mr. Berisha.
Former prime minister Sali Berisha is under investigation in the case of the privatization procedures of the former Sportiv Partizani complex, which is suspected by SPAK of passive corruption, favoring his son-in-law, Jamarbër Malltezi, one of the owners of that land, where they were later built a group of buildings.
He opposed the mandatory appearance measure, calling it unconstitutional, while further the Special Prosecutor’s Office asked the Assembly for authorization to strengthen security measures, which was approved by the legislators.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office has also requested the return to prison for Malltez, for whom Appel sent him to house arrest.
Another member of the Berisha family, Shkëlzen Berisha, the son of the former prime minister, appeared today in the Special Court to testify on the Gërdec case, where 26 people lost their lives and were injured due to the explosion of a large amount of gunpowder during the dismantling of military ammunition. 250 others.
He denied having anything to do with this issue, and said that the meetings and phone calls with former ministers Mediu and Bumçi were not related to this issue, but were made for reasons of familiarity and early friendships with them.
Shkëlzen Berisha is among over 70 witnesses called on the reopened Gërdec case.