"His name was mentioned in the traffickers' conversations", VOA: Tahiri will serve 20 months of his sentence at home

In Albania, former interior minister Saimir Tahiri will spend the remaining time of his sentence at home, 20 months, and no longer in prison. The decision was taken today by the Court of Elbasan, under whose jurisdiction is the prison of Lushnja, where Tahiri was serving a sentence of 3 years and 4 months of imprisonment, under the charge of "abuse of duty".

Lawyer Maks Haxhia, who has defended the former minister, explained that the decision was taken because, according to him, Tahiri met all the conditions provided for by law, from the low social danger of the offense for which he is accused, to the low danger he presents himself as a person, the fact that he has less than two years of his sentence left, that he has minor children in his care, and that his wife has health problems that do not allow her to take care of the children. "There is an act of medical and legal expertise, which proves that the wife suffers from an illness, which in moments of crisis, makes it impossible for her to serve the children", declared Mr. Haxhia.

The former Minister of the Interior is forced to maintain contact with the Probation Service, and according to the Court's decision, he can only move out of the apartment "to meet essential family needs when the Probation Service agrees".

In February of last year, after a long judicial odyssey, Mr. Tahiri was sentenced by the Special Court of Appeal, which upheld the decision taken in 2019 by the then Serious Crimes Court, but with the change that the sentence he would have to serve it in prison and not on probation. The court reformulated in "Misuse of duty", the serious charges brought by the Prosecutor's Office according to which the former minister had to serve 12 years in prison for "Trafficking in narcotics carried out in collaboration in the form of a structured criminal group"; "Participation in a structured criminal group" and "Committing the offense in a structured criminal group".

Today's decision of the Court of Elbasan for Tahir, to serve the rest of the sentence at home, was received with critical notes by the opposition which considered it "a disgrace to justice and as an incentive for the deepening of corruption and abuse of power", as it was says in a statement, the chairman of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party Gazmend Bardhi. According to him, "his early release on bail is a mockery of justice." While Albanian citizens are waiting for the new justice to put an end to impunity, high-ranking corrupt officials benefit from deeply political court decisions, which turn their sentences into laughable ones."

Ish ministri i Brendshëm u vu nën hetim nëntorin e vitit 2017, pasi autoritetet italiane goditën organizatën e vëllezërve Habilaj. Në përgjimet e kryera, emri i zotit Tahiri përmendej disa herë në bisedat mes trafikantëve. Prokuroria kërkoi me urgjencë arrestimin e tij, por shumica e majtë, refuzoi kërkesën duke pretenduar se ajo nuk kishte paraqitur asnjë prove. Në maj të vitit 2018, zoti Tahiri dha dorëheqjen nga mandati i deputetit. Menjëherë më pas prokuroria kërkoi sërish arrestimin e tij. Zoti Tahiri kaloi një periudhë të shkurtër në arrest shtëpie, derisa më pas Gjykata e Apelit lejoi hetimin e tij në gjendje të lirë, hetim i cili u mbyll në vitin 2019. Çështja ndaj tij është ende në pritje të shprehjes së Gjykatës së Lartë, pas ankimimit të bërë si nga Prokuroria, e cila këmbëngul në akuzat e saj, por dhe nga vetë ish ministri, i cili e ka cilësuar “skandaloz” vendimin e Apelit të Posaçëm./VOA