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Former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha says prosecutors have charged him with corruption and money laundering in connection with a land deal involving a property in Tirana.
Berisha, 79, said the prosecutor's office in charge of cases against senior officials, or key cases, ordered him not to leave the country.
Berisha also said that his son-in-law, 50-year-old Jamarber Malltezi, was arrested on the same charges at Tirana International Airport. Berisha said that he and Malltezi are innocent.
"For these accusations, I declare that they are absolutely baseless and purely political accusations by (current Prime Minister) Edi Rama," he said at a weekend press conference.
Rama did not respond to Berisha's claim.
The Office of the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime claims that Berisha's son-in-law used Berisha's position as prime minister to privatize land in Tirana owned by the country's Ministry of Defense and returned it to its previous owners, who immediately sold it. at a lower price than Malltez, who built apartments on the plot.
The accusations come three years after Interior Minister Taulant Balla, at the time head of the ruling Socialist Party's parliamentary group, sent a file of accusations against Malltez and Berisha to the prosecutor's office.
Berisha served as prime minister of Albania from 2005-2013 and as president from 1992-1997. He was re-elected as a deputy of the Democratic Party in the parliamentary elections of April 2021.
In May 2021, the US government banned Berisha and his immediate family from entering the country due to suspected involvement in corruption.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that during Berisha's tenure as prime minister from 2005 to 2013, the politician was involved in corrupt acts and had used "his power for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and members of his family ".
Blinken also accused Berisha of interfering with "independent investigations, anti-corruption efforts and accountability measures." He said that "Berisha's corrupt acts undermined democracy in Albania".
Since then, Berisha's main opposition Democratic Party has been in turmoil with various factions fighting for party leadership and legal registration.
The fight against corruption has been the Achilles heel of post-communist Albania, strongly influencing the country's democratic, economic and social development. Berisha was the fourth senior Albanian official to be denied entry to the United States due to suspected involvement in corruption. Adapted "Pamphlet" from " Euronews"
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