The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of a man injured in an ammunition dump explosion in 2008 who could not have his case heard in Albania due to a lack of funds.
The individual, who has not been named, filed a case for compensation following an ammunitions explosion that killed 26 people in March 2008 in Gerdec. The Albanian courts did not hear his case because he could not afford the cost of the legal expenses.
The ECHR awarded him EUR 7,500 in damages and EUR 3,000 to cover his legal expenses. They said the Albanian courts failed to examine the applications’ eligibility for exemption.
“Pending such examination, a claim for compensation submitted by him at \the same time as 70 other people for the loss of life of family members in an explosion in an ammunition dismantling facility, the management of which had been outsourced by the authorities to private companies, has not yet been considered on the merits,” the EHCR said.
The fact Albanian courts didn’t hear his claim shows an “unjustified restriction of his right of access to a court.”
The explosion took place in the village of Gerdec, some 10 km from Tirana. Asides from the 26 dead, more than 300 were injured, and thousands were left without a home. The location was an ex-military depot where stockpiles of munitions were stored before being destroyed. The method chosen to destroy them was a series of small, controlled explosions, but the entire stockpile went up following a chain of errors.
This included more than 400 tons of fuel in containers that decimated homes and buildings within a few kilometers. A fire continued blazing for several hours, triggering further explosions.
The work was carried out by a private company that didn’t follow the necessary safeguards. Following the blast, Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu resigned from his position, and his immunity was lifted, He was then reelected as an MP in 2009, and a court proceeding against him was dismissed as the court argued his immunity had been reinstated.
Prosecutors didn’t push the matter until the Special Court of Appeals Against Corruption and Organized Crime reopened the case against him, 12 years later.
