The Albanian opposition has reported Prime Minister Edi Rama and 49 other individuals to the Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK).
The complaint accuses Rama of leading a “structured criminal group” in relation to three concessionaire contracts for waste incinerators, resulting in payments in public money amounting to at least €430 million over 30 years.
In a press statement on Friday, MP Jorida Tabaku, who led the parliamentary committee of inquiry over incinerators for more than three months, called on SPAK to bring the already launched separate investigations on these concessionaire contracts under one single case.
In addition, she called for charges against the group for establishing a “structured criminal group” – a special stipulation in the Albanian law for serious organised crime.
The Albanian parliament rejected the report prepared by the opposition members of the inquiry committee which found multiple instances of illegality and corruption. Instead, they approved a report by majority MPs that praised the government’s environment policies.
The committee inquired for more than three months into three waste incinerator contracts awarded to the same people behind different private companies starting from 2014.
It called a number of senior government officials to testify, including Prime Minister Edi Rama, who all stressed that they had meticulously followed the laws and whatever abuse of office in the process was the responsibility of individuals.
Tabaku’s report maintains that contracts for incinerators amounting to at least €430 million in public money were awarded to the same people without competition, in violation of several laws, and in coordination with a number of ministries and other agencies.
The opposition alleges that the process could only be advanced with the approval of the prime minister, and that the group of officials conducting the corruptive affair amounts to a “structured criminal group”.
Prime Minister Edi Rama focused his 10-hour testimony on denying the existence of such a “structured criminal group”.
In the 120-page-long report, Tabaku claims to provide evidence for legal violations, abuse of office, corruption schemes, tax evasion schemes through a network of fake companies, and money laundering schemes.
The opposition maintains that this will be SPAK’s chance to prove that the Albanian justice reform was not completely controlled by the Socialist majority. They insist the alleged corruption scheme was controlled behind the curtain by the prime minister, and was implemented by several ministers and other senior officials.
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