The acting head of the Special Prosecution Office, Altin Dumani, asked the Albanian Parliament on Tuesday to authorize the deprivation of liberty of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, who is under repeated accusations of fixing a series of tenders worth hundreds of millions of euros.
The request states that SPAK intends to strengthen the measures against Balluk by banning him from leaving the country and suspending him from exercising his duties under prison/house arrest.
After winning a controversial victory in the Constitutional Court, Prime Minister Edi Rama is now being tested for his majority's relationship with the justice system.
In a quick comment on the X network, Rama set the tone for what he called "arrests without trial" and the "rude fashion" of detentions in Albania, while implying a different behavior from other similar processes.
"...this time we are asked to give our opinion, we will engage with all our responsibility before the Albanians who gave us 83 mandates, and we will prepare to maintain a fair, clear and worthy stance, as the leading force of the country and of the Justice Reform," Rama wrote.
The opposition rushed on Tuesday to accuse the prime minister of declaring war on justice institutions by defending Balluk.
"A democratic country does not put pressure on justice by warning against the use of cardboard force to violate equality before the law," commented Democratic MP Jorida Tabaku, adding: "every vote against justice is a vote for theft."
The parliament made no public announcement about SPAK's request for Balluk's immunity, but BIRN learned that MPs were informed that the meeting of the Council for Regulation, Mandates and Immunity would be held on Friday, December 19,
According to the Assembly's regulations, this Council will review SPAK's request and will give Balluk the opportunity to defend it.
Then, a report drafted by the Mandates Council, which suggests to the Assembly to vote for or against the prosecution's request, is voted on in plenary session, a process that must be concluded within a two-week period. However, the regulation also provides that if the Assembly does not express a decision within 3 months, the prosecution's request is considered rejected.
Prime Minister Edi Rama's majority has maintained mixed positions towards previous requests from the Prosecution to surrender immunity for its MPs.
In 2018, the majority rejected a request from the Serious Crimes Prosecution to arrest former Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri, who was accused of involvement in drug trafficking. Tahiri subsequently resigned and served a prison sentence for abuse of office.
Unlike the Tahiri case, the majority has accepted without any discussion the requests of the Special Prosecution Office to lift the immunity of former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj and Socialist MPs Alqi Bllako and Jurgis Çyrbja.
Despite the strength of the cards and the legal space available to the majority, lawyers emphasize that the Constitution and the principles of the rule of law require that the actions of the Assembly not become an obstacle to justice.
Lawyer Gentian Serjani told BIRN that the specific procedure for reviewing a request for the arrest of an MP is provided for in Article 118 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, but the provisions of this article can be politically misused by the majority.
"There is a real risk that the parliamentary majority, under the political influence of Prime Minister Rama, will not vote in favor, or will use the three-month deadline provided for in the Assembly's Rules of Procedure to not make any decision, leading to the automatic rejection of the request and, consequently, the non-waiving of Balluk's immunity," said Serjani.
"Such an action, although formally based on the literal reading of the Regulation, constitutes a violation of the spirit of the Constitution, violates the principle of separation and balance of powers, and undermines the functioning of criminal justice," he added.
Serjani suggests that if the Assembly were to choose to use this “clause”, this would conflict with the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court and with the standards and practice of the European Court of Human Rights.
Serjani emphasizes that the Constitution guarantees equality before the law and in this case "immunity cannot be transformed into an instrument of political or personal protection from criminal prosecution, as such a practice would undermine public trust in justice and representative institutions."
The Justice Reform was voted on in 2016 with a joint consensus between the ruling socialist majority and the opposition, while Rama has used support for this reform as a 'trophy' in every election campaign.
He has promised several times that the SP will not become a political shield against SPAK investigations and that every accused person would face justice personally and not through political power, but these promises do not include Belinda Balluku.
Balluku is the first case where such a senior government official has been indicted by SPAK on charges of violating equality in tenders worth hundreds of millions of euros and continues to remain in office, while the prime minister has taken over her legal and public defense.
The request for Balluk's arrest comes just a few days after the Constitutional Court, at the request of Prime Minister Rama, decided to suspend the effects of the Special Court's decision to suspend her from duty.
If Rama decides to reject SPAK's request for Balluku, according to political analysts, this would be an open declaration of war on justice.
Political Science lecturer Ermal Hasimja told BIRN that if the majority defends Balluk, the only thing left for Rama is "a clash with justice and the internationals as its sponsors."
"If he refuses to lift his immunity, Rama will openly clash with justice," said Hasimja, considering this a dangerous point for justice institutions.
Even for Rigels Xhemollari, director of the organization "Citizen Center", this moment will show whether Rama will enter into a clash with the judiciary and move towards undermining the justice reform.
"From a political point of view, if Rama decides to put 83 mandates in defense of Balluk, against the public interest, this will also be the political end of his government, as I think SPAK has sufficient evidence that citizens have been robbed by the actions of the Deputy Prime Minister," said Xhemollari.
Although he does not believe that the prime minister will reject SPAK's request, he nevertheless foresees a new rhetoric and approach to justice.
Xhemollari also sees Rama's clash with the justice system as a clash with the international factor that supports justice reform.
"In addition to the internal factor, we must also take into account the strong American political and technical support that the special prosecution structure has, a fact that makes it difficult to protect with mandates any Albanian politician accused and proven of corruption," concluded Xhemollari./ Reporter.al
