BERISHA LAUNCHES RENEWED ASSAULT ON PROSECUTOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000752

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2018
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM KCOR KCRM PREL AL
SUBJECT: BERISHA LAUNCHES RENEWED ASSAULT ON PROSECUTOR
GENERAL

Classified By: DCM Stephen A. Cristina, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Beginning on October 10 and continuing over
the weekend, Prime Minister Berisha and the Ministry of
Justice began a new campaign to intimidate and obstruct the
work of the Office of the Prosecutor General. Alleging that
the PG's Office had broken the law while trying last week to
question Bosnian businessman Damir Fazlic, the Ministry of
Justice first tried to seize prosecutor files relating to
Fazlic, then the Interior Ministry threatened to file charges
against two prosecutorial investigators involved in the
Fazlic investigation. Finally, on October 13, Prime Minister
Berisha gave a rambling and emotional press conference at
which he strongly denied any government attempts to interfere
with the work of the PG and instead accused the PG's office
of "undermining its own independence" through its failure to
follow the law. END SUMMARY.

BERISHA GAMBLES, LOSES. . .
--------------


2. (C) The October 2 detention in Bosnia of Bosnian
businessman Damir Fazlic set off a press feeding frenzy in
Tirana, with widespread speculation and allegation of
business ties between Fazlic and the families of Prime
Minister Berisha and Foreign Minister Basha. Opposition MPs
joined the debate over alleged ties between Fazlic, Berisha
and Basha, and demanded answers from the government. In an
effort to both clear his name and to stick a finger in the
eye of the opposition, Berisha arranged to have Fazlic fly to
Tirana on October 9 to give a TV interview to the pro-GOA
Klan TV. Unbeknownst to Berisha, Albanian Prosecutors on
October 7 had opened a money laundering investigation
centered on Fazlic. When prosecutors heard on October 9 that
Fazlic had arrived in Tirana on a private jet, they
immediately drafted a request that Fazic appear for
questioning.


3. (C) Tipped off by police who were escorting Fazlic
around town, Fazlic made a dash to the airport where he
departed Tirana one hour earlier than planned. Police
claimed that the summons for Fazlic did not reach them after
Fazlic had left, thus clearing police of the charge that they
had dragged their feet in delivering the summons to Fazlic,
as they are required by law to do.

. . .THEN OVERREACTS
--------------


4. (C) At 7:30 PM on October 10, two investigators from the
Ministry of Justice arrived at the Tirana District
Prosecutor's Office with a request to review the Fazlic file.
When the MoJ investigators were denied entry on the grounds
that they had not filed the necessary paperwork to review the
files, they refused to leave the Prosecutor's Office. On
October 11, the MoJ inspectors delivered a different request
to the Prosecutor General's Office, this time requesting to
review the registry of all new criminal files opened since
September. Berisha and others later claimed that the MoJ
investigators were simply trying to obtain "statistics" from
the PG's office, but numerous sources have told the Embassy
that the MoJ was trying to seize the Fazlic case files.


5. (C) On October 11, the Ministry of Interior said it would
"sue" two of the prosecutors involved in trying to summon
Fazlic, claiming that the attempt to question Fazlic violated
the law. Numerous legal experts have ridiculed the MoI
attempt to bring charges against the prosecutors as "legal
nonsense."


6. (SBU) Finally, on October 13, Berisha held an angry,
rambling press conference in which he defended Fazlic as well
as the actions of the Ministry of Justice and accused the
Prosecutor General's Office of working against Fazlic at the
behest of the "mafia" and said the PG's Office is
"undermining its own independence" through its alleged
failure to follow proper procedures. Berisha made a vague
call for an "international investigation" into the Fazlic
case, as well as a "parliamentary commission" to look into
relations between the PG, MoJ and Ministry of Interior.


7. (U) On October 13, the Embassy released the following
statement regarding the attacks on the Prosecutor's Office:
"We are very troubled by the recent actions of the Minister
of Justice and Minister of Interior to interfere with the
independence of the prosecutor's office during an ongoing
investigation. All cases should be fully, completely and
independently investigated without any outside interference
or threats to the prosecutors. Respect of all for

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independent institutions is essential for a healthy
democracy."


8. (U) On October 14, the EU Mission in Albania released the
following statement: "The Ambassadors of the European Union
in Tirana are troubled by recent developments concerning the
judicial system in Albania. This may lead to undue
interference and possible institutional conflict in the
country. We strongly call upon all, in particular the
government, to respect the Constitutional provisions and
principles of good governance, including accountability to
the law."


9. (C) COMMENT: Although seemingly precipitated by the
Fazlic firestorm, numerous sources have told the Embassy that
this attack on the Prosecutor General's Office is just the
latest attempt to derail a number of ongoing investigations.
The first investigation is Gerdec, with the second being
serious corruption allegations against Foreign Minister Basha
and the Durres-Kukes road project, stemming from Basha's time
as Minister of Transportation and Public Works.
Prosecutorial investigators are reportedly close to
completing their work on both the Gerdec and Durres-Kukes
investigations. One source told PolOff that Berisha's son
will be implicated in the Gerdec investigation and that
investigators have determined that financial abuse during the
Durres-Kukes road project - all during Basha's stint as
Minister of Transport and Public Works - amounted to nearly
200 million euros. Given the politically explosive nature of
these ongoing investigations, Berisha has ample reason to
continue and even increase pressure on the PG's Office.




WITHERS