"Ergys Agasi is protected by the state. There is no international arrest warrant for Ergys Agasi," said DP leader Sali Berisha at a press conference, raising suspicions that he is being protected by police structures.
For Ergys Agas and Ermal Beqiri (businessmen in various fields, including communications), since December 16 of last year, there have been arrest warrants and they have been declared wanted for involvement in a criminal organization for ANA tenders.
For SPAK, Agasi is considered a key person in this suspected criminal activity involving kidnappings, blackmail, fixed tenders and affairs, also implicating senior public officials.
Just yesterday, over 40 million euros worth of assets, villas, apartments, farmland, land, olive groves, forests, vehicles and bank accounts were seized from this group, including the former director of AKSHI, Mirlinda Karçanaj. But beyond the name Ergys Agasi, who was first described as a "shadow man who connects politics with the underworld" by former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, has he been declared an international wanted person?
Interpol Tirana's response
Faktoje.al contacted the State Police (Interpol sector) with a request for information on whether or not citizen Ergys Agasi has been declared wanted, based on Berisha's statement.
In the response received from the Interpol Directorate, no information is provided, describing it as "classified information". "...Based on Law No. 10/2023 'on classified information', Article 28, 'criteria for recognition of classified information', your request cannot be processed by us due to the level of classification", says the Interpol Directorate (Interpol Tirana), at the State Police.
Factoje consulted with independent sources, raising questions about how a person with a definitively confirmed "prison arrest" security measure can or cannot be declared internationally wanted, and especially about the time frame when the wanted person is notified to Europol and then Interpol.
"The moment the court confirms the measure of "arrest with imprisonment" at the request of the prosecution, the police structures are immediately officially notified and from that moment on, the person is declared wanted in the country," says the source.
Room for interpretation
Procedurally, but also in police practice, for every person who has an arrest warrant for criminal offenses that go beyond 7 years of imprisonment, after verification is carried out in Albania, such as checks on residential addresses, checks on relatives (when there is information in the operational way) and verifications at border crossing points, then they are declared internationally wanted, initially the Europol office is notified and then Interpol. Was this procedure followed for the “Agas” case? The same source, on condition of anonymity, specified that for the citizen in question, since it is suspected that he has several declared apartments, businesses, but according to the Special Prosecution also hidden ones, it is necessary to fully exhaust these checks and then the international wanted announcement is carried out.
Four months have passed since the arrest warrant was issued, and in "normal" cases for various citizens, searches in the country do not last more than 1.5 months and they are automatically declared internationally wanted. But for Agas, is this rule being "violated"?
The leader of the Democratic Party accuses the State Police of protecting him by not declaring him internationally wanted, but police procedures leave room for interpretation and deadlines. The State Police must have exhausted all procedures from the domestic to the international wanted within a year, as the 1-year period serves as the time for the person under indictment to be familiar with the process and participate in the trial.
After the 1-year period has passed, a trial in absentia may be held against him.
Seizure of assets
The Special Prosecution Office, SPAK, announced yesterday that it has seized assets worth over 40 million euros as part of the criminal proceedings against the former director of AKSHI, Mirlinda Karçanaj, and businessmen Ergys Agasi, Ermal Beqiri and three other businessmen linked to the suspected criminal activity. Several apartments, forests, arable land, apartments, garages, service units and bank accounts in the name of Ergys Agasi have been seized, while Karçanaj has also had two apartments, a vehicle and arable land seized./Faktoje.al/
