FLASH
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But will the West accept a prosecutor with a dark past at the head of SPAK?
The latest interview of the head of SPAK, Altin Dumani, and his movements in the studio and in meetings with foreign diplomats have brought the name of Klodian Braho to the forefront. He always appears next to him as Dumani's candidate for head of the Special Prosecution Office. But after this support from the chief prosecutor, the question arises: can the West, with the principles it has established for integrity and the fight against organized crime, accept a prosecutor with proven suspicions of links to crime, at the head of the main institution of prosecution?
Two pieces of evidence that discredit Klodian Braho's candidacy:
According to investigations and data provided by investigative media, Braho is burdened by two compromising facts: traveling with a drug trafficker in 2012 and family ties to people convicted of international drug trafficking.
First, TIMS documents show that on February 24, 2012, Braho crossed Kakavija in the car “AA 777 AT” together with convicted drug trafficker Bledar (Ervis) Gavelli, with whom they traveled to Athens. Braho was the driver of the car. They slept at the “Blazer Suites” hotel and returned to Albania on February 26, 2012. The trip was never declared on the decriminalization forms when Braho had to declare his assets and criminal connections.
Second, Braho's wife's brother was arrested in Italy in 2011 for drug trafficking. His name has been mentioned publicly in international trafficking trials, but Braho did not declare this connection in the 2019 vetting investigation.
These facts are not small. They are violations of public trust, attributes that the prosecutor represents. And precisely for this, the Vetting Commission and then the international institutions that oversee the process must react.
SPAK's weak precedent and the risk to international credibility
The internal elections of SPAK for the new leader are being permeated with bargaining, lobbying and pressure. Yesterday, evidence emerged that Braho and Dumani have influenced the purchase of votes in the High Prosecutorial Council, in exchange for favors for relatives in investigative bodies.
This precedent weakens SPAK's credibility. Although international institutions such as the European Union are trying to support justice reform, the current situation gives the West a new reason to be suspicious: anti-corruption institutions may become part of the problem.
Vetting in Albania, according to international standards protected by funding bodies and European integration, has as a principle that prosecutors and judges should not have links to organized crime. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre+2legalpoliticalstudies.org+2
If a prosecutor with a profile like Braho is elected head of SPAK, he will be a symbol that the law and institutions are caught. And this will be the strongest signal for the crime that the state is not showing seriousness.
The question that every Western partner and every diplomat seeking cooperation with SPAK should ask
Under these conditions, it is right and necessary that international partners, the United States, the European Union, and anti-mafia structures in Europe, reflect:
Can they support the head of SPAK who traveled with a convicted drug trafficker?
Can they cooperate with the main anti-crime body when the candidate for its head has dirty connections?
Is SPAK more of a political instrument than an independent and reliable body for justice?
At a time when Albania is aiming for integration into Western structures, the name of the head of SPAK should be above all suspicion. Failure with the wrong choice not only harms the implementation of justice in the country. It harms the international credibility of the entire reform system.
Altin Dumani may try to impose his "dolphin", Klodian Braho, at the head of SPAK. But for the West, for whom laws and Justice Reform are not a formality, this name is unacceptable.
It is time for international cooperation not to translate into tolerance for names with dark shadows. SPAK should represent justice, not compromise./ Pamphlet
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