"Oh life, oh work", KPA examines the early retirement of the former prosecutor of Tirana

The Special Board of Appeal, led by judge Albana Shtylla, held a public hearing with the former prosecutor of Tirana, Besni Cengu, on Monday morning.

The vetting process against Ceng was terminated without a decision in March 2023 by the Independent Qualification Commission, KPK, following the premature retirement of the subject of the revaluation and his loss of magistrate status.

Based on the recommendation of the International Monitoring Operation, ONM, Public Commissioner Irena Nino appeals the decision of the KPK asking the College to change it and decide, except for the termination of vetting for Ceng and the prohibition to return to the justice system within a period 15 years old.

The appeal against Ceng in the KPA is being heard by a body that, in addition to Albana Shtylla, includes judge Natasha Mulaj as relator, as well as judges Sokol Çomo, Ina Rama and Rezarta Schuetz as members.

Besnik Cengu started his career in the justice system as a judicial police officer. He worked from 2005 to November 2012 as a prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of the Tirana Judicial District.

According to the Public Commissioner, Irena Nino, the decision taken by the KPK with a majority of votes on March 3, 2023, to suspend the process of re-evaluation of Ceng, came as a result of the wrong interpretation of the law.

In her submissions, Nino asked the College to change the decision of the KPK on the subject of the re-evaluation and to sanction the prohibition of his inclusion in the justice system for a period of 15 years.

Former prosecutor Cengu is 63 years old and in 2012 he suffered a heart attack that brought him problems and serious consequences for his health. His health condition has been deteriorating even in 2022, while the vetting process was being developed against him, he asked the High Council of Prosecution, KLP to take him out of early retirement.

According to Article 27 of Law No. 96 of 2016 "On the Status of Judges and Prosecutors", magistrates have the right to early retirement when they reach the age of 60 and have exercised their function for 30 years, as well as when the magistrate is unable to exercise his function, due to illness, certified by the medical commission for determining the ability to work.

Cengu told the KPA that he fulfilled both conditions for early retirement. The former prosecutor underlined that his retirement could not be considered as a resignation from the justice system, nor a rejection of the status of a magistrate. Cengu reasoned that, as a result, he could not be penalized with sanctions for exercising a right provided by the law.

The former prosecutor of Tirana described the complaint of the Public Commissioner as not based on the law and in a wrong interpretation of the legal provisions.

"I have the status of a pensioner and not a magistrate," he said.

The ex-prosecutor made a long chronology of his health problems and underlined that until he had kept his status, he had responded correctly to the requirements of vetting institutions and the administrative investigation of the KPK, even though he had been hospitalized. He underlined that heart failure had made it impossible for him to perform his duties.

"I have not refused the duty, but I have been unable," said the former magistrate - apparently offended by the Public Commissioner's complaint, adding that he had been forced to choose "either life or work." /BIRN