Altin Dumani is a man of high integrity, who is simply doing his duty without any political bias. European Union Ambassador Silvio Gonzato gave this answer in an exclusive interview in "Čdo Kënd" with Merita Haklajn on A2 CNN, when asked about the opposition's accusations against him.
For the head of the EU delegation, the way SPAK works cannot be controlled by the government.
"There are mayors from the left and the right who are indicted, who are being investigated. I do not see any particular political bias in the way SPAK is acting. I have met Mr. Dumani, he is a man of high integrity. He's doing his job, he's not looking for attention, he's not looking for fame. He's just doing his job. And as I said before, I think we should let them do their job. And of course, it must be done within the framework of the rule of law. They have to respect the procedures and so on, everything is clear. So I don't really want to comment on the insinuations that SPAK is politically driven. All I can say is that the judicial reform introduced safeguards that protect judicial institutions from political interference. I don't understand how the way SPAK works can be controlled by the government. That's all I can say."
The ambassador emphasizes that we need to give the new justice institutions some time to consolidate and achieve the expected results, as he was asked about the opposition's claims that SPAK will have to act more quickly regarding the allegations of election crimes .
"There are some recommendations that are part of the whole membership process, the review process, and they are about further increasing the independence of the judicial system, increasing the resources, the capacity, for example, to conduct financial investigations effectively . So what you say, I think, is an indication that SPAK is indeed facing a heavy workload and that we should not forget that this is a new institution. They are just getting started. We will mark on Friday, I believe, SPAK's five years in office. So, we need to give these new institutions some time to consolidate and achieve the expected results. I sometimes worry that people's expectations of SPAK are a bit disproportionate even to its capacity. Sometimes, I see people referring to SPAK cases that should actually go to ordinary justice, for example. So it looks like they're going to save everything and everyone. So, SPAK has a specific mandate that deals with corruption and organized crime. I think they have achieved extraordinary results in the field of organized crime. We don't talk about it enough. They have created really excellent cooperation with European law enforcement agencies, with Europol, but also with international ones, with Interpol, with agencies in South America for drug trafficking. So I think they're doing a lot, to be honest. We just have to give them time. And, of course, it is also a matter of consolidating their work practices to achieve the level of professionalism they need. I am very glad, for example, that the deputy director of BKH, investigators, has now been appointed, and they can now develop the judicial police, as this will also increase the capacity of SPAK to quickly and effectively investigate cases that refer to".
Regarding the disturbing statement of the SPAK head about those who passed the vetting, Gonzato emphasized that judicial institutions should have their own internal mechanisms that ensure the accountability of judicial staff.
"We must ensure that after this revolution, because Veting was indeed a harsh but necessary measure, we must establish a system that regularly ensures the integrity of judicial personnel. So this is definitely something to look at and take action on. We are giving our full support to independent justice institutions to do this. What is important is that when we talk about the accountability of judicial staff, we must combine it with independence. So, what we need to achieve is that the judicial institutions have their own internal mechanisms that ensure the accountability of the judicial staff. I do not see this accountability happening in relation to the other two elements or the other two pillars of the state, ie the legislature/parliament and the executive. So we need to help independent judicial authorities put in place the necessary mechanisms. There are other agencies that can help. HIDACI, for example, is the agency that must regularly check the assets of civil servants. So there are a number of players who can play their part in this regard. But this is definitely an important aspect".
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