Fatmir Xhafaj, chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee for Anti-Corruption, former Minister of Interior, has reacted with a long post regarding the Justice Reform, SPAK and especially the case of Veliaj, the former mayor of Tirana, who is in detention, writes A2 CNN.
Among other things, Xhafaj writes that for him Erion Veliaj is not a corrupt official. "Personally, I am among all those who believe that Erion Veliaj, as far as I know him and how I know him, is not a corrupt official. No one is infallible, but I do not see his mistakes, even if they are such, as corrupt approaches. I do not know the entire case in question and I do not claim to know it in essence, but as far as I have read and with the knowledge I have of how this process was built, I have my own questions about the way it began and how it was proceeded in this criminal case. I fear that we are before a case where a person and his life are investigated and investigated, to find criminal facts against him and not before what the law allows and requires, that is, that a specific criminal offense is investigated and from there it goes to the responsibility of the specific person whose guilt or not is determined by the judicial decision-making of both levels and not by the investigator and prosecutor," Xhafaj writes.
Further, Xhafaj writes that "reading the court decision that accepted and certified the prosecutor's request for the security measure "prison arrest", I am even more convinced of an unfair process in procedural terms."
"The numerous pages of the court decision cannot convince anyone with the minimum of legal culture that the measure taken is proportional and in accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code regarding this security measure. Worse still, they do not convince when it calls into question the public benefit and interest, including the political and electoral moment when it was given."
If you then combine this with the "anonymous" start of this case, the manner of proceeding, the way it was served to the public during the investigation and after the court decision, with some "arguments" used for this decision-making that do not match the truth that we know, and even worse when you hear about pressure and blackmail against the witnesses questioned, this rightly calls into question the professional and moral integrity of this process, making it suspicious in the eyes of every legal professional and the public itself.
Let's be clear, no one is and should not be above the law. We are all equal before the law and everyone can and should be investigated and judged regardless of political, institutional and social status. Even Erion Veliaj, of course, YES.
I will not go into the essence of the matter at all, whether or not he is guilty and responsible for what he is accused of, despite the fact that from those hundreds of pages I do not clearly find such a thing, where is the corruption of the Mayor himself!! Anyway, this does not concern me and I do not even attempt to do this. This primarily concerns the prosecutors, they have the burden of proof, to prove guilt with convincing evidence, beyond any doubt, with clear evidence and not with assumptions and indirect interpretations as read in the court decision.
As a legislator, as a representative elected by the votes of the citizens of the Municipality of Tirana, I have every right to demand that all of this be carried out with objectivity and impartiality and through a due process of law, in compliance with constitutional principles and the provisions of criminal procedural law, always taking into consideration human rights and freedoms and, of course, public interest and public safety.
My long and deep acquaintance with Erion keeps my appreciation for him the same today as a public official who, wherever he has been, has served in the interest of the law and the public good.
However, in the conditions when the inventories of clothing have been released to the media market (not without reason given in that way and with those details), public opinion deserves to be clarified about them, regardless of the fact that, as can be seen from the court decision made public, there is no direct connection between those "facts" and the accusation of corruption against the Mayor.
"In conclusion, expressing my support for Erion in his legal and political battle, I ask him, even in the current conditions of isolation, to be fully transparent about the accusations raised as an obligation to public opinion, the citizens and voters of Tirana, as well as in front of the judges who will judge him and decide on his truth," Xhafaj writes.
(A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
