It's a shame that the internet is a virtual medium, because there are a lot of people out there that I'd like to express my deep feelings of friendship to, and having spent the last two years here in Serbia, I'd like to do it in a truly Serbian way.
Albania Probes Bosnian Businessman
| 09 October 2008 |
Ina Rama
The sale was never registered in Albania’s tax authorities, and was facilitated by the Flutura Kola, a partner of Kola and Malltezi, the Tirana law office ran by Berisha’s daughter.
In a statement on Wednesday the Albanian Chamber of Layers, denied that Kola had done anything illegal in her work to facilitate the sale of Crown Acquisitions.
Erion Isufi, the brother-in-law of Basha, acted as administrators of the company. He also operated a series of companies registered by Fazlic in 2005, shortly after the centre-right coalition headed by Berisha won the parliamentary election.
Isufi has denied working for Fazlic in a statement.
Fazlic made a short visit to Tirana on Wednesday for an interview with a local TV station and left after a few hours.
Local media reported that through the whole period of his trip, Fazlic was escorted by Albanian police, and although prosecutors asked the police through an official query that Fazlic should be stopped for questioning, police refused to obey the order.
Interior Minister Bujar Nishani denied the allegations on Thursday in parliament.
"Fazlic was not escorted by the police," he said.
Fazlic worked as a consultant with a United States company, BG & R, which designed Berisha’s Democratic Party electoral campaign.
In an interview with a local broadcaster he denied accusations of any wrongdoing.
The Albanian opposition has charged that Berisha and Basha were involved in corrupt deals with Fazlic.
Both Berisha and Basha have denied the charges. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/13783/
Berisha returned to power in Tirana in 2005 on a “Clean Hands” platform, promising to rid the country of the endemic corruption that has plagued its institutions since the fall of the communist regime in 1991.
Since he regained power in 2005 as head of a right-wing coalition, his opponents claim corruption in Albania has only worsened.
Two officials of his government are currently under investigation for abuse of power, and one is currently being tried for murder and torture.
Although Berisha claims that he supports the work of the General Prosecutor Ina Rama, he has tried to indirectly pressure her by drafting a new law that regulates her office.
The law seeks to strip the prosecutors of the protection of arrest by the police, without the initiation of a formal indictment and it also limits their independence by allowing the Ministry of Justice to probe ongoing investigations.
The bill has come under large criticism from interests groups, the opposition and US diplomats.
