Criminal Prosecutions Increase in Albania

UNCLAS TIRANA 000067

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SCE (ERIN KOTHEIMER AND YOULIANA IVANOVA)

PASS TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FOR OPDAT

E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCRM PREL AL
SUBJECT: Criminal Prosecutions Increase in Albania


1. (U) Summary: Criminal prosecutions in Albania have accelerated
since the creation of the Joint Investigative Unit (JIU) to fight
Economic Crime and Corruption in the Tirana District Prosecution
Office in September, 2007. Two corruption cases against government
officials are currently being tried and another 34 are under
investigation. Although the JIU, established with USG assistance,
is off to a promising start, fighting endemic corruption in Albania
will require a sustained commitment of political will and resources
that have been lacking until now. End Summary.


2. (U) The JIU began formal operations on September 10, 2007 and is
a primary initiative of the Embassy's Overseas Prosecutorial,
Assistance and Training (OPDAT) office. The two cases being tried
involve officials from the Republican Guard and the Construction
Police (Note: The Construction Police enjoy a notorious reputation
for extorting from business owners.) Another 34 cases, including
high-profile cases against senior officials from the Transportation
Ministry and the Tax Police, are being investigated by the JIU.
(Note: Most of the 11 officials being investigated in these two
corruption probes have been jailed since August in pre-trial
detention.) An additional 22 cases are preliminary referrals that
are under examination for possible prosecution.


3. (U) The JIU was established under a Memorandum of Cooperation
between the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Interior, the
Minister of Finance and the Director of the National Intelligence
Service in June, 2007. To date, these GOA actors have followed
through on commitments to assign staff and support the JIU
materially. Last week two additional prosecutors were assigned to
the JIU; this addition brings the number of prosecutor in the unit
to five with two more expected to be named shortly. When staffing
is complete this spring, the JIU will have a total staff of 37,
including a director, seven prosecutors, 17 state and judicial
police officers, and officials from the customs, tax and
intelligence agencies. The media has closely followed the JIU's
work, and a recent request from the Chief Prosecutor in Durres for
OPDAT assistance in creating a multi-agency investigation and
prosecution unit within his office is an encouraging sign of the
JIU's growing public credibility. OPDAT is supporting the JIU
through formal training and equipment donation and will imbed a
Department of Justice prosecutor as an anti-corruption advisor in
the unit later this spring.


4. (SBU) Comment: The long-running political drama over Prime
Minister Berisha's attempt to sack former Prosecutor General Sollaku
overshadowed the latter's failure to prosecute a single high-level
corruption case during his five-year tenure. The Embassy helped set
up the JIU as a quasi-independent unit to jump-start a fight against
the corruption that permeates the GOA at all levels. The GOA has
made modest progress against corruption, as recognized in part by
the recent report issued by the Heritage Foundation where Albania
improved its overall ranking to 56 out of 157 countries rated for
economic freedom, an improvement of 10 places over last year's
ranking. The JIU's initial success and the prosecution of a few
mid-level officials is a good beginning, but the fight against
corruption will have to eventually aim for investigation and
prosecution of the politically well placed in both the government
and the opposition. End Comment.

WITHERS