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| Skender Damini while being escordet to police station |
Special Police Forces exercised control today in the apartments of the three of the five members of the Serious Crimes Appeals Judge, who sentenced last week to 25 years in prison, Dritan Dajti, accused of killing 4 policemen 10 years ago. The controls were conducted on the basis of a verdict of the Serious Crimes Court, as before, the Serious Crimes Prosecution Office initiated criminal proceedings against the three judges: Skender Damini, Petrit Aliaj and Aleks Nikolla.
According to first reports, in the apartment of the judge Skender Damini, Police found € 17 thousand and "an amount of ammunition", police said in a statement, explaining that "the police operation is ongoing." Damini was escorted to the Police Directorate of Tirana to give explanations.Dritan Dajti addressed to the Serious Crimes Court of Appeal by seeking a shortened trial. In order to take a decision, 5 judges of Regions Courts were selected, of which two of them voted against the lowering of the sentence for Dajti.
The decision caused many controversies. The Justice Minister Etilda Gjonaj spoke of an "unacceptable scandal. The decision of the judges' troupe to accept a shortened trial of reducing to 25-year the sentence for a defendant accused of killing four officers, indicates clearly indicates that it is a corrupt affair and contrary to the Criminal Procedure Code."
Minister Gjonaj addressed the High Judicial Council in the meantime, seeking "disciplinary investigation of the activity of members of the judicial body, who have adjudicated the case against the convicted Dritan Dajti, for serious professional and ethical violations that discredit the position and the figure of the judge during the exercise of duty". Mrs. Gjonaj has also requested the dismissal of the judges.