The Special Court has postponed the next hearing against the defendants in the Tirana incinerator case to March 4, at 1:30 PM, writes A2 CNN. Today's hearing, where the defense's conclusions were to be heard, was postponed due to the absence of one of the defense lawyers.
In the last session, SPAK requested a prison sentence for former Minister of Environment, Lefter Koka, which would be the third given to him, after those for the Fier and Elbasan incinerators.
This time, SPAK requested 4 years in prison for him, on charges of "abuse of office", committed during the conclusion of the concession contract for the Tirana incinerator.
Due to the summary trial, the requested sentence is reduced by one third and, according to the claim, Koka and all his co-defendants should be excluded from the right to exercise public functions for 5 years.
The same punishment for the same charge was also requested by SPAK for former officials of the Environment and the Municipality of Tirana, Bledar Karoli, Fatjon Murati, Taulant Tushe and Namik Simixhi.
The most lenient sentence was requested for defendants Valbona Ballgjini and Sidita Kopliku, two years in prison each, but ultimately converted to 4 years of probation. Two years in prison were requested for Jetmir Llapaj.
According to SPAK, the former minister and former defendants of the Ministry of Environment helped the company “Integrated Energy BV” owned by Klodian Zoto, to obtain the necessary documentation before and after the concession procedure, in order to be declared the winner. The investigation has revealed communication between them and knowledge by the company about the necessary documentation before the unsolicited proposal for the construction of the incinerator was submitted.
Even the data for the feasibility study, says SPAK, was obtained from the Ministry of Environment, while state officials have violated the law, fictitiously increasing the waste disposal fee from Local Government Units to 29 euros/ton.
In parallel with this case, the court will separately try the former Secretary General of the Environment, Alqi Bllako, for "corruption" and four former officials for "abuse of office", who did not request a summary trial. SPAK also has a faction of the investigation into the Tirana incinerator open. (A2 Televizion)
