The Special Anti-Corruption Court hearing that would be held to decide on a precautionary measure for suspended Special Appeals Chamber (KPA) judge Luan Daci has been postponed to May 24.
His attorney requested the hearing be pushed back as Daci is sick.
Daci is accused of falsifying documents to hide his dismissal as judge in 1997. He was suspended by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution yesterday.
The judge has been part of several vetting panels that have dismissed judges and prosecutors with a final verdict.
US ambassador to Yuri Kim attended a KPA meeting regarding Daci’s case today. She told reporters that electoral and justice reform in Albania are “necessities” for the country to become “a strong, capable, democratic ally” of the United States and “part of the European family.” Kim warned not to use these promises as “bargaining chips”.
The United States want the same thing that the people of Albania want. We want Albania to be a strong, capable, democratic ally of the United States of America and we want you to be part of the European family. You cannot have that without electoral reform, you cannot have that without judicial reform. These two are not bargaining chips. They are necessities. It’s time to stop playing games and it is time to deliver justice reform. It’s time to deliver election reform just as leaders have promised to the Albanian people, and just as the United States of America and the Albanian people expect.
Yesterday, Kim and EU Ambassador Luigi Soreca tweeted cryptic warnings against a rumored “a back-room deal to kill justice reform.”
