BY GAVROSH LEVONJA Two years ago, one of the well-known prosecutors, who had become famous for important investigations, was arguing with a completely unknown person. So far, everything was in order, but their conversation in the café was being followed with an extremely great deal of interest from other places, to the point that these people would send someone for a coffee and then leave. In a conversation with a much calmer person, seated opposite him, the prosecutor quietly said: “Look, my dear sir, I am doing the duty of the state and I am against no one.” The person in question replied: “It is not important what you think. What matters is what the conclusions of your investigations turn out to be.” Nevertheless, this episode seemed as if it had emerged to shed light on the accusatory nature of prosecutors who track the complex structures of “serious cases”; they are threatened by someone, but they are under fire and conditioned by the conviction that they are not merely individuals in their own right, but can also be representatives of institutions that exercise state authority. This emerged to shed light on the judicial and authoritative nature of a prosecutor’s role. If he acts in implementation of the law and protects the public interest, he may be threatened not only as an individual, but also as a representative of the state. Not infrequently, these accusations begin from those tracing criminal activities that are threatening not only one individual, but the entire system. In this sense, the threats against prosecutor Arson Plaka, who has handled very important files and who has brought into court figures with the weight of organized crime, are part of a dangerous logic: to turn fear into a tool for blocking the investigation. It is now clear that the prosecution and the police must be strongly supported in their battle. A state that cannot protect its own investigative and punitive bodies risks losing control not only over crime, but over itself. And if institutions remain unprotected, then the mafia’s threat is not only against one man, but against the state itself.

page 17 Khyshms Umson, World Bank director

Greek investigators, psychological violence in the cells of Korçë page 5