An Albanian court has ruled that former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, facing corruption charges, must report to prosecutors and remain in the country during the investigation. The decision was made by the Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime, established in 2019 to handle cases involving senior officials accused of corruption and other crimes.
Last week, Berisha, aged 79, and his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, aged 50, were charged with corruption and money laundering. Berisha maintains their innocence and alleges political motivation by Prime Minister Edi Rama’s ruling Socialist Party.
Prosecutors claim that Malltezi, taking advantage of Berisha’s position as prime minister, purchased land in Tirana owned by private citizens and the country’s defense ministry, constructing 17 apartment buildings on the property.
The case was revealed three years after Interior Minister Taulant Balla, then head of the governing Socialist Party’s parliamentary faction, sent allegations against Malltezi and Berisha to the anti-corruption court.
Berisha served as Albania’s prime minister from 2005 to 2013 and as president from 1992 to 1997. He was reelected as a lawmaker for the Democratic Party in a 2021 parliamentary election.
The United States and the United Kingdom previously barred Berisha and close family members from entering their countries, citing alleged involvement in corruption and interference in the judiciary. Corruption has been a persistent issue in post-communist Albania, impacting its democratic, economic, and social development. Berisha is the fourth high-ranking Albanian official to be banned from entering the United States due to corruption allegations.
, an independent military force, and allied militias in Sudan raped several dozen women and girls in West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina, and those fleeing to Chad between late April and late June 2023, Human Rights Watch said today. The assailants appear to have targeted people because of their Massalit ethnicity and, in some cases, because they were known activists.){kind=link}