Edi Rama could not hide his joy when, like every Sunday, he spoke to the people, saying:
"This week, SPAK elected a new leader, who will succeed Altin Dumani, the chief prosecutor who raised the institution to another level, turning, thanks to the strength of his example in the first place, into a concrete, historical fact - I would say without exaggeration - what seemed an unrealizable slogan, when I repeated it during the battle to pass the justice reform and then on the path to its implementation: a justice that does not look left or right, but only straight."
The above passage was followed by a completely opposite stance, as, praising the 5 judges of the Criminal Court, he declared:
"In legal terms, a unique precedent in the world was eliminated and the country's highest court rejected an Albanian-style brutality in the interpretation of the law, which struck at the democratic organization of the state."
He directly attacked SPAK and GJKKO, when he shouted that their job was:
“…disturbing symptoms of the irresponsible exercise of the independence of the new judicial power, making, in more than one case, the cure more harmful than the disease we are fighting together.”
Satisfied that he won the battle and we must all admit that he succeeded, he also brought up an old grudge. How, some time ago, he had managed to repel the BKH itself. The urban legend in Tirana had also accompanied it as a rumor, but today we had proof of the truth:
"The protagonists of the independence of justice have lost their minds and have become convinced that they are the state, the law and justice, like the work of some brave men of the BKH, about whom I have heard many strange things, who had come one day to the Council of Ministers building and did not want to leave their pistols at the door according to the high security regulations of the Republic Guard."
Beyond the Prime Minister's joy, public interest now demands calm and reflection on what has happened.
Five members of the CC issued a verdict suspending a criminal court decision, unprecedented before, even without any justification. These facts, placed in harmony with the daily pressure that Rama exerted throughout the week, give meaning to the conviction that the five members of the CC have been under pressure and have broken: some because they cannot withstand the pressure, some because they have openly shown their affiliation with the SP, and some for opportunity, to make a quiet career without attacks. The case of Bejtja, Berisha's singled out for integrity, which was in favor of Rama, that is, for the return of Balluk to office, stands out. All of this is therefore a complete SP-DP political confrontation against SPAK.
Much will be said in the future about this decision: about the unprecedented precedent that the CC intervenes in a judicial decision before the appeal levels have been exhausted; about a completely unreasonable decision by the five members of the CC, to the point of abuse of office; about a decision that has in fact prejudiced the very foundation of the case, regarding the repeal of the CCJKO decision; about the first case when the new bodies of the reform architecture have turned against each other. But there is something that is a direct and immediate effect of this decision by the 5 members of the CCJ, about which SPAK and CCJKO should speak the most.
What has happened may simply be the loss of a battle. The battle will likely be long. Returning to the decision of the GJKKO, now suspended according to the decision of the GJK, we must wait until January 22 of the new year. That day, the trial of the merits will continue and, even if everything goes normally, the final decision of the GJK, in any case, will not come to light for at least 2–3 months. These 2–3 months, during a criminal investigation, are an infinity of time when it comes to the integrity of that investigation. In 2–3 months, with a minister/deputy prime minister under investigation for several publicly known cases and perhaps many others still under investigation, there is enough time to destroy evidence, intimidate witnesses, manipulate events and documents, or even commit similar criminal offenses, if the risk is eminent. Were five members of the GJK not intimidated? Then witnesses or collaborators in Balluk's crimes are easily intimidated, especially when the commitment is massive, with the Prime Minister in charge. This is precious time that no one can give back to SPAK and the investigation, even if the final decision of the Constitutional Court is in favor of SPAK.
Thus, the most deterrent effect of the GJK decision is the damage caused to the investigations. It is a damage that is potentially irreversible if measures are not taken. At this point, even though without any responsibility for what happened, it is the duty of SPAK and GJKKO to remedy the situation. The GJKKO decision was clear when it found the existence of all three legal risks that justified the security measures. If the travel ban remains in force for the risk of escape, the other two risks – the risk of evidence poisoning and the risk of committing similar criminal offenses – remain uncovered. In the final instance, the responsibility for the collapse of the investigations, despite being caused by the political chain of the Prime Minister and the GJK, ultimately rests with SPAK and GJKKO.
What will be the reaction of SPAK and GJKKO, this remains to be seen. Balluk's return to duty begins on Monday at 09:00, because the GJK decision has been published in the Official Gazette. SPAK and GJKKO have a legal obligation to the investigation, but also a public obligation, to declare either that the two risks – the poisoning of evidence and the commission of similar criminal offenses – no longer exist, or to identify another security measure that neutralizes these risks. Only this behavior would preserve intact what SPAK and GJKKO have built with great effort and difficulty: the high public trust in them. Any other behavior – apathy or waiting until January 22, and perhaps even later – would undoubtedly be interpreted not only as perception, but as surrender.
Therefore, returning to what Edi Rama declared today, everyone understands that now it is not simply Joni Keta of BKH or even Klodian Braho of SPAK who has been called into play. Although we know that for the public untrained in procedural details, responsibility will be addressed to these two people, in fact the fate of justice itself has been called into play. A project strongly sponsored by all European countries and by the USA, whose representatives assisted in the election of both Joni Keta and Klodian Braho.
These two, or more precisely SPAK and BKH, carry a greater burden beyond that contained in the Balluku case. On their shoulders lies precisely what the Prime Minister himself articulated today: "to continue walking on the path of its implementation, a justice that does not look left or right, but only straight ahead". Time has brought it, as an inevitable vector, to look up as well.
Time waits for nothing. Tomorrow is Monday and from 09:00, when working hours begin, the investigations into the case in question are in real danger of collapsing.
