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| Elizabeta Imeraj speaking to the media after the dismissal |
In Albania, the Special Appellate Panel decided today the dismissal of the head of the Tirana Prosecutor's Office, Elizabeta Imeraj.
"The trial panel, making a different assessment by the Independent Qualification Commission, of the factual situation and law enforcement, concludes that the decision of the KPC dated April 1, 2021, for the subject of re-evaluation of Elizabeta Imeraj should be changed and the subject of the re-evaluation to be dismissed", announced the presiding judge Ina Rama, reading the shortened decision. According to the College, in the evaluation of the three criteria provided by Vetting, it turned out that Ms. Imeraj "has violated the public trust in the justice system."
Regarding her assets, the trial panel stated that had found an inaccurate and insufficient statement as well as a lack of legal sources. Ms. Imeraj has always insisted that the assets attributed to her belonged to her ex-husband and that she herself had "zero assets". She raised suspicions against the College, which "did not take a stand", against a title deed on her behalf, to which the Cadastre replied "that this act does not appear to have been issued and that I have no property owned or co-owned", as Ms. Imeraj told reporters at the end of the process.
Problems, according to the Panel, have been related to the control of the figure, while he mentioned the fact that according to the trial panel, prosecutor Imeraj has held contradictory positions regarding a sentence that her ex-brother-in-law had for criminal offenses that make that person involved in organized crime. Also in terms of professional skills, the College stated that in an investigative case there were "shortcomings that have led to impairment of the quality of investigations and impunity of the persons involved."
During her defense, Ms. Imeraj often mentioned the fact that she has been a prosecutor in delicate cases, in which politicians, well-known figures from the criminal world, or issues related to terrorism have been involved.
The prosecutor insisted today that the facts and evidence taken into account by the trial panel did not stand and that the decision was based on forged documents and anonymous denunciations "which affected the process from the beginning" she said, raising doubts about the manner of implementation of justice reform. "If the reform, its implementation, is to be based on documents with anonymous denunciations and falsified documents, then I am guilty," said Ms. Imeraj, adding that vetting should not be turned into a witch hunt, because someone can does not want Imeraj as chief prosecutor of Tirana, or as a prosecutor in Albania”. Her lawyer, Gregory Thuan Dit Dieudonne, said he will appeal with the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights.
The appeal to the College was prompted by international observers, who argued that "a proper assessment of the facts and a review of the written evidence should lead to the dismissal of Ms. Imeraj". Then it was the Public Commissioner who formally addressed the KPA, in July last year, on the grounds that “the decision is vulnerable in its entirety and that the subject of the re-evaluation, Mrs. Elizabeta Imeraj does not meet the conditions to be confirmed in office ".