General Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD) Gazmend Bardhi has today published the criminal conviction of Vora mayor Agim Kajmaku. In June 2003, Kajmaku was arrested in flagrante delicto for the use and distribution of fake money, a crime for which the Greek law specifies a prison sentence of at least 10 years. He was released in expectation of his trial.
After his release, Kajmaku fled back to Albania before the Prosecution released a warrant for his immediate arrest, considering the gravity of his crime. He could not be convicted, as the Greek law does not allow for convictions in absentia for serious crimes.
According to Bardhi, the arrest warrant released by the Greek Prosecution remains valid, and explains why Kajmaku did not return to Greece after 2004.
Kajmaku declared previously: “with legal responsibility and moral conviction I declare that I have not been convicted and have never been expelled by any EU state, nor by Greece.” In a precise sense this is true: he has not been convicted because he could not stand trial, and he was not expelled because he left the country by himself.
Nevertheless, Kajmaku should have mentioned the arrest warrant on his decriminalization form. Lying on a decriminalization form is itself a criminal offense under Albanian law.
Kajmaku is the second Socialist mayor in recent weeks who turned out to have criminal antecedents. Former Vlora mayor-elect Valdrin Pjetri withdrew after it turned out he had been convicted for drug dealing in Italy.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has not commented on the opposition allegations against Mayor Kajmaku yet.
