Criminal prosecution requested for citizen Sali Berisha
Last night the first denunciation against the authors of the Albanian tragedy
On behalf of the Tirana district prosecutor’s office, yesterday a request was made to the court for the imposition of a security measure, arrest in prison, for citizen Sali Berisha, son of Ramë and Sheqere Berisha, born on 15 October 1944, born in the village of Viçidol, Tropojë district and resident in Tirana. With act no. 210 of February 1997, the persons who carried out the order of Bashkim Gazidede, the head of SHIK, unlawfully arrested Avni Shkurti and Kujtim Çollaku. These actions were carried out without a prosecutor’s arrest warrant, without a court decision and without respecting the 48-hour deadline set by law. The killers, on the orders of citizen Sali Berisha, kidnapped and tortured Avni Shkurti and Kujtim Çollaku for two days and two nights, during which time they were questioned about where citizen Bashkim Fino might be found. Berisha is the person who, by means of threats, forced these citizens to make false statements about the person of citizen Bashkim Fino. Berisha is accused of the criminal offenses provided for by Article 86, paragraph 2 of the Penal Code (in collaboration with Bashkim Gazidede), organization of the kidnapping of a person with the aim of disappearing him or holding him hostage, Article 109, paragraph 2 of the Penal Code, as well as organization of torture, Article 86, paragraph 2. For these criminal offenses, the imposition of a prison arrest measure is requested. According to the request of the Tirana district prosecutor’s office, with this accusation and with the accusation of organizing the murder of citizen Bahri Kaloshi, Sali Berisha may be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison or life imprisonment. Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Fatos Nano, in a press statement yesterday, said that “murder” and “kidnapping” are the criminal offenses for which former President Berisha is being accused. On behalf of the government, Mr. Nano said that the government is determined that all those who have carried out executions, kidnappings, or bloody acts in Albania be punished to the end. Sali Berisha, apparently, took the events calmly. Speaking on the phone with a citizen family in Tirana, he laughed and joked about the criminal case brought against him. “The murders, bloody acts, political kidnappings were done by the people, on the orders of SHIK,” Berisha sarcastically replied to a question and adds: Look and seal the arrest of the Chief Prosecutor of Tirana. Albania is immersed in crime. It is about, Sali Berisha stated, the closing of international files. Sali Berisha continues to speak on the phone with his voters, laughing and mocking the murder of MP Azem Hajdari, the murder of lawyer Haxhia and the responsibilities of the Albanian government. Last night, 17 September, at 20:45 the chairman of the PS, Mr. Fatos Nano, ordered by telephone the criminal prosecution bodies to put handcuffs on Berisha and not to stop before any obstacle. He also stated that “there is no force that can stop the process of liquidating Berisha’s structures of violence and crime,” and that “there is no force that can force the government to deviate from the fight against this phenomenon.” Last night, the prefect of Tirana, Mr. Ruzhdi Pulaj, communicated by telephone to Avni Shkurti and Kujtim Çollaku the decision of the General Prosecutor’s Office to place at their disposal a villa so that they may live together with their families in Tirana until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings against the persons accused of kidnapping and torturing these citizens. Mr. Ruzhdi Pulaj, on behalf of the government and the prime minister, apologized to Mr. Avni Shkurti and Mr. Kujtim Çollaku for the unjust and undeserved suffering they have endured at the hands of the Albanian state.