FLASH
Shkruar nga Lutfi Dervishi
In Albania, we have no less than 18,000 cafes, maybe only the remaining stock files in the Supreme Court surpass them for record numbers.
In Albania, the courtroom is only the final act of a five-act play, four of which take place outside the courthouse.
Trial cafes
Amidst the tantalizing aroma of coffee that mingles with the haze of tobacco smoke, the fate of people who will one day face justice in court is forged.
In Albania, we have no less than 18,000 cafes, maybe only the remaining stock files in the Supreme Court surpass them for record numbers.
The cafe's lawyers, armed with years of experience and expertise ranging from international maritime law to neighborhood gossip, don't hesitate to dispense swift justice.
"I know how this is going to end," says one, smoking a Salomon-looking cigarette.
What evidence, what evidence, what facts, everyone knows what he did... Maskarai! Jail! It rots there! There is no need for anything, the verdict has already been given and the verdict givers are as sure as the foam on the hood.
The Facebook trial
Justice moves faster here than in a coffee shop. Decisions are made in the comments section and previews are reviewed with likes. One writes words that he doesn't even understand himself, another deletes what he has written because by mistake his comment came out without any error. Another shares a meme. The verdict becomes viral, the judges are global because they are not lazy to give a decision even those who are on the other side of the globe. The army of Facebook prosecutors is merciless!
Media trial
Here the decisions scream in the form of headlines in big letters and rhetorical questions. Here "journalist" is a policeman, judicial police officer, prosecutor, lawyer, judge, notary, bailiff.
Here the story takes on a tragic note, "journalists" and "commentators" speak as if they have spent their whole lives behind the back of the accused and have also seen the texts he wrote on Whatsapp.
Under the studio lights, the "experts" speak with divine authority. For the sake of truth, there is some truth to be told here, but it is whispered during those blessed minutes of publicity.
The decision given by the media is noisy in public, where it is often the case that during this decision some trifles such as facts or evidence are forgotten.
In this country destitute of justice, who has time to read evidence or listen to witnesses. Time is gold or not?
The trial of politicians
Someone may mistakenly think that the Supreme Court in Albania is the Supreme Court, or the Constitutional Court.
Someone else might think that there is even more, thinking of the Strasbourg Court. But no.
The Supreme Court here is the political court. Guilt and innocence in this court are as relative as Einstein's theory of relativity.
The politician is the only "judge" who defends the devil and attacks the saint. There are no angels in this trial. Here everyone is guilty and innocent depending on which wind blows and the next storm. This is the "court" that judges the court itself.
Courtroom trial
Amidst the noise of decisions handed down at coffee table tables, countless social networking platforms, endless news broadcasts, party conventions and the hall of parliament, it finally arrives at the final act in the courtroom. Here is the judge, the most forgotten figure in popular justice. Dressed in the solemnity of his robe, the judge must decide based on the law.
In the real courtroom, the judge is the impartial arbiter between the defense and the prosecution.
He is the man who examines rigorously, not what everyone knows, but what he can prove, is where the witnesses cross, where the constitution and the law are God, and legal precedents are the guideposts worth more than facebook/instagram posts and press conferences.
The hall should be a domain where law rules and where the whims of public opinion have no power.
Here the judge represents the principles of justice and due process, trying to ensure that justice is not only delivered, but served properly, based on facts and laws rather than guesswork, conjecture, noise and clamour.
Sadly, coffee shop whispers, Internet shouts, screams of sensational headlines, analyst sermons, and press conferences seep through the courtroom doors challenging the sanctity of the judicial process.
And it happens that the judge forgets that he is a judge or is in a big dilemma, before giving the decision: Which of the first four acts should he pay more attention to?!
Lini një Përgjigje