US Ambassador to Albania Yuri Kim has praised the results of the US-backed justice reform and the work done by the Special Prosecution against Organized Crime and Corruption (SPAK) in an interview for TV Klan on Tuesday.
The ambassador warned against expectations that the justice reform be quick and perfect, and drew attention to its results so far.
She emphasized that in nearly one year since its establishment, SPAK has investigated 1010 cases, and the success rates for those cases SPAK raised charges against has been 90 percent.
Speaking of the “big fish” Albanians expect to see caught in SPAK’s net – a euphemism oftentimes used by Kim’s predecessor Ambassador Donald Lu to designate politicians or senior public officials – she said SPAK’s results show that important cases are under investigation. Kim added that ignoring these results just because the highest-ranking politician is not behind bars is propaganda.
Kim underlined SPAK’s investigation into the drug trafficking activity of an individual who has deep ties to media and business, as well as investigations carried out on prosecutors and doctors. She criticized the media for not covering these cases enough.
While she mentioned no names, some publicly known cases include those of ORA News’ owner Ylli Ndroqi, former general prosecutor Adriatik Llalla, and surgeon Edvin Prifti.
The ambassador refused to comment on opposition’s claims that the justice reform is controlled by the ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
