The shameful departure of Arben Kraja, as a servant of Ilir Meta

2022-12-14 18:07:55Fokus SHKRUAR NGA ENDRIT HABILAJ
The shameful departure of Arben Kraja, as a servant of Ilir Meta
Arben Kraja and Ilir Meta - Photomontage

Note: Arben Kraja officially ends his mandate on Monday, December 18. In the few days he has left at the helm of SPAK, conceived as a structure that would frighten young and old from the justice reform, it is not enough for him to leave more traces.

But what is the balance of Arben Kraja so far? What legacy will he leave to one of Altin Duman, Adnan Xholi and Edvin Kondilli? What legacy will he leave to the citizens, who blindly believed in justice and the new structure, and above all, what will Arben Kraja be remembered for, except as the first leader of SPAK?

For this we have to look back three years in time, when Arben Kraja was chosen at the head of this structure in a process that did not pass without criticism. Opposite Kraja in December 2019, when SPAK was rising on the foundations of Serious Crimes, the candidates were Altin Dumani and Edvin Kondilli, who this time are back in the race to realize the ambition of three years ago.

From the interviews before the members of the High Prosecution Council, the platforms and from the submitted biographies, Arben Kraja did not stand out above the others, not to mention that the 'trespass' as an investigator during the communist regime from 1987 to 1992 penalized him .

However, KLP entrusted the leadership of SPAK with six votes against candidates Altin Dumani and Edvin Kondilli. The KLP's reasoning was that Kraja had the ability and experience above others in organizing similar investigative structures in the past, starting from the position he had held at the General Prosecutor's Office. 

The question that arises is how did Arben Kraja use this ability and experience in leading SPAK, when the structure has not failed, at least it has shown the symptoms of old justice through delays in processes and sensational denunciations, or through selectivity in collection of evidence, as in the case of Arben Ahmetaj for the Elbasan incinerator.

The law on the functioning of SPAK really forbids Arben Kraja to interfere in the files of special prosecutors, but in the case of Arben Ahmetaj as the head of the structure and since it was about such a sensitive file, he was surely informed of the procedural actions of the two prosecutors Klodian Braho and Ened Nakuçi.

How did you react? The silence. His only reaction is the standard procedural announcement where he says that a lot will be drawn to evaluate the report of the journalist Adriatik Doçi regarding the accusation brought against the two prosecutors Braho and Nakuçi for hiding evidence. That's it.

He avoids the responsibility given to him by the law, which as the head of the Special Prosecution recognizes the right to distribute the files to the prosecutors under his authority based on their specialization. This means that Arben Kraja has appointed the two prosecutors Ened Nakuçi and Klodian Braho for the investigation of the Elbasan incinerator and, if not directly, indirectly shares with them the moral responsibility (not the legal guilt) for the implementation of the two standards in the investigations and the concealment of the evidence.

This is the freshest negative balance in Arben Kraja's three-year adventure at the head of SPAK. Other failures are related to sensational files, since Gërdeci, January 21, the CEZ-DIA affair, Meta's lobbying in Washington, or the file of the former Partizani complex. 

The commonality of these files is that they include Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta. What has SPAK done in relation to these files, which have been sleeping in the drawer for months? No one knows, except for the standard media statements of Arben Kraja, where he says that he is "investigating them".

But what prevents the head of SPAK from pushing forward these sensational files? Is it the past as the former head of the anti-corruption unit in the government headed by Ilir Meta in the early 2000s? Or is it the past as an investigator of communism, that during the summer months Ilir Meta recalled through Silva Caka?

Arben Krajas will be remembered more for these than for his achievements. His legacy is the misappropriation of millions of euros of Albanian and international taxpayers and with them the misappropriation of the trust he received from them three years ago.

Therefore, if today the number of Albanians who are losing faith in the new justice constantly increases, one of the main reasons is the spectacular failure of SPAK under the leadership of Arben Kraja. /VoxNews


Video