Assets of High Court former member Admir Thanza seized

Admir Thanza after the SPAK decision to dismiss him

 The Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime has accepted the request of the Special Prosecution (known locally as SPAK) for the seizure of assets of the former High Court Judge Admir Thanza.

In 2018 Thanza was ousted from the Vetting process. He was found to have problems with all three re-evaluation criteria, including property, which, according to the Independent Qualification Commission, was not justified by legitimate sources.

This is the reason why SPAK, as it has done with some other former judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, started investigations against him recently requesting the seizure of an apartment and a garage owned by Thanza, in Tirana.

The case of former judge Thanza, caused a stir after during the Vetting process it was revealed that he had a conviction for theft in Italy, which he had not declared. A year later, this cost him and an 18-month probation sentence for falsifying the decriminalization form.

KLP dismisses prosecutor Kokona at the request of ILD

The High Council of the Prosecution (known as KLP) decided today to dismiss the prosecutor of Pogradec, Shkëlqim Kokona, "for serious professional violations, which discredit the position and image of the prosecutor". The request for dismissal was submitted by the High Inspector of Justice ( known as ILD) Artur Metani, after an investigation launched with information from the General Prosecutor, for procedural violations during the investigative activity, representation of criminal prosecution in the trial, as well as violations of ethical norms by prosecutor Kokona.

According to an ILD announcement, “from the disciplinary investigation on the activity of the magistrate in the period 2018-2021, it was proved that the magistrate has repeated refusal behavior in not submitting the files; there is repeated non-participation in court hearings; has completed the cases with a decision as a prosecutor, without proceeding with their transfer with a request to the court and non-issuance of orders for the execution of court decisions of imprisonment".

Also, according to ILD, it turns out that “it has been proven that by the magistrate, there have been repeated and serious violations of the rules of solemnity, the rules of etiquette in relations with the parties, with the heads of the prosecution, with the judges, with the police officers judicial staff, as well as the staff of the prosecution and court administration”.

The inspector concluded that the behavior of the prosecutor "has led to serious professional violations, discrediting the position and image of the prosecutor, as well as undermining public confidence injustice."