FLASH
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Sali Berisha 'surprises' again. Another figure who was convicted in the past for a serious crime and who held high positions in the DP government from 2005-2013, appeared at today's meeting to present the electoral program for the May 11 elections.
Arben Sefgjini was among the mass of democrats in the hall of the "Palace of Congresses", joining the 'puzzle' of figures with which Berisha is seeking to return to power for the third time in these 35 years.
Sefgjini, accused since 2003 of the kidnapping while working as an official of the SHIK of Bashkim Gazidede, under Berisha's government as President, in the mysterious disappearance in 1995 of the Albanian-Macedonian activist Remzi Hoxha, joins names such as: Former Chief Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla, who participated in Berisha's meeting in Rome, Italy two months ago, Judge 'Sheik' Gjin Gjoni who accompanies him everywhere in meetings inside and outside the country, while also running as an open list MP for the DP, in the Lezha district, and former Durrës prosecutor, Arjan Ndoja, also a candidate for the open list of the Democrats.
Previously, Berisha has also appeared with names like Mondi Kolila, convicted of violating Albanian national symbols, known as a Greek extremist minority, and Fredi Beleri, now an MEP, sentenced to 2 years in prison for corruption, which he served after the leader of the Democratic Party helped him win the Himara Municipality in May 2023 in the local elections.
But who is Arben Sefgjini, who since March 19, 2013 has been acquitted by the Appeals Court, in the case of the kidnapping and subsequent disappearance of Remzi Hoxha and the torture of two others, Avdyl Loshaj and Ziso Krostopulli, even though the First Instance Court of Serious Crimes had found him guilty, but due to the amnesty for the crime in 2007, he was not imprisoned.
In the fall of 1995, Arben Sefgjini was serving as the director of branch no. 2 of the SHIK directorate in Tirana, next to the Police Directorate, when Albanian-Macedonian businessman Remzi Hoxha was mysteriously kidnapped from his duralumin workshop on "Siri Kodra" street, and his body has not been found to this day.
Investigations proved that he was taken by employees of the SHIK of Tirana under the direction of Ilir Kumbaro and Arben Sefgjini and taken to the offices, where after torture it was confirmed that he was left in the hands of former officials of the Albanian agency. Later, the body was proven to have disappeared in order to erase the traces. Hoxha was suspected of being an activist close to the KLA and the service of Bashkim Gazidede and the state of Berisha in those years were aggressive towards Kosovar-Albanian activists, in favor of the Serbian service.
In 2003, the file was reopened and led to the arrest of at least 3 people, including Arben Sefgjini, Budjon Meçe and Avni Koldashi, while Ilir Kumbaro was listed as a fugitive in England. After several months of detention, Sefgjini was released. In 2005, while the process was ongoing, Berisha took power. Sefgjini was appointed director of Taxes, a position he held until around 2009. In 2008, the Prosecutor's Office reopened the case and the arrest of the official was sought.
Berisha's government defended him, and the former prime minister himself even declared that until there was a court decision, Sefjini was innocent.
"In a democracy, until the accusation is proven, whatever it may be, you are innocent and no one can consider you otherwise. The court determines guilt and this is one of the greatest achievements in our country," Berisha would declare at the time.
The director was placed under house arrest, from where he continued to sign documents and orders as the director of Taxes. A year later, he was appointed to the Probation Service as the director of the institution, while the process continued in parallel while he was free, an unprecedented case of impunity.
In 2013, at the instigation of the Prosecutor's Office, the Serious Crimes of the First Instance Court found them guilty, but only Ilir Kumbaro was sentenced to 15 years in prison in absentia. Koldashi and Sefgjini, although found guilty of abuse of office, benefited from a 2007 amnesty for this criminal offense.
But Sefgjini and Koldashi continued the battle in the Serious Crimes Appeal, where they sought acquittal, which they received on March 19, 2013, a few months before Berisha left power.
Kumbaro, as the main author of the murder and disappearance, who tortured Hoxha, received 15 years but was never extradited, after a spectacular escape to England. Sefgjini lost his position at the Probation Service and left the administration only on November 13, 2013, three months after the SP had officially taken office in the country's government. / Shqiptarja.com
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