US Robustly Backs Albanian Prosecutor

Tirana _ The US ambassador in Tirana John L. Withers backed on Thursday with strong words and praise Albania’s General Prosecutor Ina Rama.

“Her responsibilities are not only to investigate some of the most difficult and controversial cases that Albania has known, but in a larger and more profound sense, to make a profound contribution to the building of Albanian democracy through defending the independence of her institution and of the judiciary in general against political pressure and political attacks,” said Withers.

“It does not take any great wisdom on my part to predict that when the history of Albanian democracy is written, there will be a special chapter in it for people like Ina Rama,” he added.

Prime Minister Sali Berisha has tried to pressure the prosecutor general by trying to open a parliamentary investigation into a probe launched by the Prosecutor's Office against  Bosnian businessman Damir Fazlic, a close friend of the premier.
 
Berisha’s attack on the prosecutor general received strong criticism from the opposition, however the premier has been unaffected
 
“You can’t put a dismissal motion against me, because you are castrated” he told the opposition in parliament on Thursday.  

Fazlic is under investigation for money laundering. Read more:
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/13848/?tpid=144
 
“I frankly see no legitimate reason for the government or the parliament to make these moves. I urge both the government and the parliament to reconsider these ill-considered actions, which appear to intrude on the independence of an institution that needs to be independent, said Withers.
 
“My advice, and that of my government, is to let the prosecutors do their job as the independent actors that they are,” he added.
 
Wither’s statement is the second in the last three days by the US embassy in Tirana condemning the government’s move.
 
The European Union ambassadors in Tirana on Tuesday also condemned the attack launched by Berisha against the Prosecutor General.
 
"The Ambassadors of the European Union are troubled by recent developments concerning the judicial system in Albania," the ambassadors said in a joint statement.

"We strongly call upon all, particularly the government, to respect the Constitutional provisions and principles of good governance, including accountability to the law."
 
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 ministers of his government are currently under investigation for abuse of power, and a senior official is currently being tried for murder and torture.