Albania and the United States have signed a new extradition treaty on Tuesday, which is an update of the one signed in 1933 in Tirana.
“This treaty modernizes and supersedes the one between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Albania, signed 87 years ago, on March 1, 1933 in Tirana,” said US Ambassador Yuri Kim.
Ambassador Kim and Albania’s Minister of Justice Etilda Gjonaj signed the treaty on behalf of their countries.
The new treaty will help both countries better confront crime, they said.
Kim revealed that the number of offences for which suspected criminals or those sentenced for crimes can be extradited has widened.
“This treaty no longer limits the extraditable offenses to a simple list. The scope is widened to reflect modern concepts in the fight against crime and the robust nature of our security relationship,” she stated.
Persons who are sought in each country for prosecution or for serving a sentence will be extradited under this treaty.
Minister Gjonaj added that some of the new categories include crimes in the areas of finance, tax and customs, corruption, environment, informatics, and all crimes for which laws stipulate a sentence of over one year in prison, excluding crimes of political character.
The Ambassador said Albania’s effective prosecution of transnational crime will help it become a “full member of the Euro-Atlantic family” quicker.
She expressed the US full support for the justice reform in Albania, and stressed that the success of prosecutions by the new justice institutions “is not only what the United States expects – it is what Albanian citizens want, need, and deserve.”
The extradition treaty is expected to be ratified in parliament.
