At the memorial ceremony for the victims of January 21, Edi Rama chose to speak at length about the passing of time, the lack of justice, and the patience that, according to him, is owed to a system that is still “growing.” In the end, amidst all this talk, he also found time to recall how high the salaries of SPAK prosecutors are.
The speech began with the passing of the years. "For those of you who were grandparents, the time has come to become great-grandparents. For those of you who were children, the time has come to become parents," said Rama, linking the time to the long wait for justice. But for the four victims of January 21, according to him, "the time has not yet come for them to rest in peace," because justice has not been served.
From here, the Prime Minister moved on to the reasons why this justice has not yet come. The overthrow of the old system has not been enough, the independence of the judiciary has not been enough, and neither has the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, more than two years ago, been enough. None of these, according to him, has prompted the special prosecutors to request the Special Court to try the four state murders.
At this point, the speech took a concrete turn. Rama recalled that for six years, “in the name of justice and only justice,” Albanian society has given prosecutors salaries “somewhere higher” than their own and those of the President of the Republic. According to him, these salaries and patience with “extremely worrying” mistakes have been the price for building a new and vital institution.
But while salaries were accurately mentioned, justice for January 21st remained at the level of reflection. Rama acknowledged that each anniversary brings “stones of anger and sadness” from a society that feels betrayed and used in its trust in the new justice. He said he understands this anger and that he feels empty every time this date returns without an answer.
From this personal feeling, the Prime Minister moved on to the general picture of the system: prisons filled with detainees without trial, violations of freedoms and human rights, and a justice system that produces more security measures than final decisions. Within this panorama, the January 21 issue was mentioned as the greatest injustice that continues to remain pending.
And so, the speech ended where it began: with the reception. In front of the families of the four victims, this year there were neither deadlines, nor concrete announcements, nor political responsibilities. There was a long story about time, patience and salaries. While justice for January 21, this time too, was postponed for another year.
