Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TIRANA59
2008-01-23 14:20:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:  

First Criminal Terrorism Finance Case Hits Albanian

Tags:  KTFN PTER PREL AL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9028
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0059/01 0231420
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231420Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6588
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000059 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE
DOJ FOR OPDAT

E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: KTFN PTER PREL AL
SUBJECT: First Criminal Terrorism Finance Case Hits Albanian
Courts

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000059

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE
DOJ FOR OPDAT

E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: KTFN PTER PREL AL
SUBJECT: First Criminal Terrorism Finance Case Hits Albanian
Courts


1. (U) SUMMARY: In December 2007, Hamzeh Abu Rayyan, the
administrator for UN 1267 designated terrorist financier Yassin
al-Qadi, was criminally charged with hiding funds used to finance
terror. This marks the first time that an individual has been
charged with terrorism financing in Albania. After a lengthy
process, which included alleged attempted corruption of
investigators and prosecutors, the case is now before a five-member
panel of judges in the First Instance Court for Serious Crimes. The
first hearing of the trial was held on January 14, 2008. The
successful prosecution of this case will go a long way in
establishing a legal precedent against terrorism financing in
Albania. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) The case began in September 2006, when investigators
working for the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office (SCPO) in Albania
began a criminal investigation of Hamzeh Abu Rayyan, a Jordanian
citizen living in Tirana, Albania. The SCPO investigated Rayyan for
1) financing of terrorism (art. 230/a of the Criminal Code) and 2)
hiding/concealing of funds and other wealth/goods that finance
terrorism (art. 230/b of the Criminal Code). Abu Rayyan is the
administrator of "Loxhall sh.p.k", an Albanian company established
in 1993 and owned by Yassin al-Qadi. Loxhall owns 19 immovable
properties in Tirana that are rented to individuals and companies.
The Loxhall company, along with the properties it owned, were seized
pursuant to order No. 02, dated 02.12.2004, of the Minister of
Finance based on ownership by al-Qadi and his UN 1267 designation as
a terrorist financier.


3. (U) The investigation revealed that, although Loxhall and its
properties were under seizure, Abu Rayyan continued the activity of
the company and concealed 10,089,604 leke (around $123,000) from
Albanian authorities. Prosecutors were not able to build a
sufficient case for charges of financing of terrorism under 230/a,
but were able to file under 230/b. On December 24, 2007,
prosecutors filed charges with the First Instance Court for Serious
Crimes on hiding/concealing of funds and other wealth/goods that
finance terrorism.


4. (U) The investigation also revealed that the Agency for the

Administration of Sequestered and Confiscated Assets (AASCA) failed
to exercise its duty of administering the seized properties. It was
also discovered that the Tirana Tax Department continued to collect
taxes from "Loxhall sh.p.k" after its seizure, which was improper
because Loxhall was banned from business activity due to the seizure
order. For this reason, the Serious Crimes Prosecutor's Office also
referred a case against AASCA and the Tirana Tax Department to the
Joint Investigative Unit against Economic Crime and Corruption on
the charges of abuse of office.


5. (SBU) Some developments in the case raise concern about its
final outcome. According to a judicial police officer assigned to
the investigation of the case, she, the prosecutor and the head of
the office were pressured by the defendant during the investigation
to dismiss it and were offered bribes through their relatives and
close friends to dismiss the case. Additionally, at the beginning
of the investigation in 2006, the Serious Crimes Court ordered Abu
Rayyan to surrender his passport and refrain from leaving Albania.
In December 2007, in spite of strong opposition from the prosecutor,
the court returned Abu Rayyan's passport to him and ordered him to
report regularly to the police. Abu Rayyan is now in possession of
his passport and can leave the country at any time. The Prosecutor
has appealed this decision, but no decision has been reached on the
appeal.


6. (SBU) Before the case was sent to trial, a prosecutor from the
General Prosecutor's Office and the lead prosecutor in the case,
Julin Papa, suggested that it should be completely dismissed. SCPO
leadership supported moving the case forward because the
investigation was complete and there was enough evidence to bring
the case to trial. The two sides did not reach a consensus at two
consecutive meetings. The leadership of the Serious Crimes
Prosecution Office then sought a written opinion from the General
Prosecutor's Office regarding filing the case with the court. At
that point, in the written reply, the General Prosecutor's Office
formally agreed that the case should be filed in court. (Note: The
lead prosecutor has since performed professionally in court.)


7. (U) On January 14, 2008, the First Instance Court for Serious
Crimes began the criminal trial against Abu Rayyan. Abu Rayyan was
represented by defense counsels Saimir Vishaj and Liljana Ruli. The
court panel was composed of Sander Simoni, presiding judge, Eva
Dede, Nertina Kosova, Dritan Hallunaj, and Gurali Brahimllari.
Several journalists from major TV stations and newspapers followed
the hearing. Before the trial began, defense counsels explained
that Abu Rayyan required a translator during the hearings. As a
preliminary request, the defense asked for all procedural actions
performed during the preliminary investigation to be excluded from

TIRANA 00000059 002 OF 002


evidence because the fundamental right to free translation for
foreign citizens had been violated by the prosecution. The
prosecutor argued that, during the investigation, Abu Rayyan was
notified of the right to translation, and in the presence of his
lawyer, Abu Rayyan declared that he understood and spoke Albanian
and did not need a translator. The court continued the trial until
January 16 to allow time for consideration of the defense request.


8. (U) On January 16, the court rejected the preliminary request of
the defense. The Court found that Abu Rayyan had declared in the
presence of his attorney that he understood and spoke Albanian, and
neither he nor his attorney requested translation. The defense
repeated the request to exclude from evidence all procedural actions
performed during the preliminary investigation, and also made two
new claims: 1) that the prosecutor did not allow the defendant to
become familiar with the file, and 2) that he was not officially
notified of the charges filed in court. The Court rejected all
three claims. The defense then declared that the Court was clearly
favoring the prosecution and the fate of the trial was already
decided. The defendant and the attorneys declared that they would
not further participate in the "clearly biased trial" and left the
courtroom. The Court decided to continue the trial in absentia of
the defendant (allowed under Albanian law),and postponed it until
January 29 in order to assign a state-paid attorney to him. In the
meantime, the Court indicated that it will inform the National
Chamber of Advocates and ask for disciplinary action against the two
attorneys for abandonment of the defense. (Note: The National
Chamber of Advocates rarely, if ever, imposes disciplinary action
against attorneys.)


9. (SBU) COMMENT: Albania has an aggressive history of freezing
and sequestering assets related to terror financing, and the Abu
Rayyan case is important as it will demonstrate whether Albania has
the capability to take the next step and prosecute a case of
international importance against terrorist financiers. The ongoing
inability of AASCA to properly administer seized terror finance
assets and the lack of capable enforcement of tax laws hampered the
investigation and may have a damaging impact on the overall criminal
prosecution of Abu Rayyan. However, the Serious Crimes Prosecution
Office appears to have done an admirable job of investigating the
case and vigorously advocating for its advancement, even in the face
of troubling opposition from fellow prosecutors. Likewise, the
Serious Crimes Court has thus far handled the case professionally.
We will continue to monitor this case closely throughout the trial.

WITHERS