Investigations into Olsi Rama's links to the 'Xibraka' file suspended, Bardhi requests SPAK for information

The head of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, Gazment Bardhi, addressed an official request yesterday to the Special Prosecution Office SPAK regarding the investigations into the "Xibraka" case.

Bardhi states that the completion of the investigations for a criminal proceeding as stated in the prosecutor's media release and the reaching of the final conclusion that there is no evidence or facts linking citizen Ols Rama to criminal activity, means that the prosecutor in the case has initiated a criminal proceeding against this citizen and due to lack of evidence, he is not found to be involved in illegal activity and a "cessation of the investigation" has been decided.

For this, Bardhi has requested from SPAK a copy of the prosecutor's decision to conclude the investigations and discontinue criminal proceedings against citizen Ols Rama and a copy of the respective court decision, where the request to conclude the investigations and discontinue proceedings against Ols Rama was accepted, according to the conclusion that there is no evidence linking him to criminal activity.

Bardhi further requested SPAK to provide information on the investigative actions carried out by SPAK within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 88 of 2024, including the evidence collected, the persons questioned, the documentation administered, etc., as well as to make available a copy of the decision to suspend the investigations of criminal proceedings no. 88 of 2024, taken on December 23, 2024, in order to exercise the possibility of appealing this decision for suspension to the Special Court, in accordance with point 3 of Article 326 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Regarding this part of the prosecutor's decision-making, Bardhi also requested information on whether, during the investigations conducted for criminal proceedings no. 88 of 2024, the Special Prosecution Office cooperated or had any official communication with the Hanover Prosecutor's Office and whether Interior Minister Taulant Balla was asked as the person who, on April 4, 2024, officially informed the plenary session of the Albanian Parliament that he was aware of the identity of the unidentified 45-year-old person, writes A2 CNN.

Also, Gazment Bardhi has brought to the attention of SPAK the claim of Prime Minister Edi Rama for creating "false circumstances", asking the questions whether: (1) Has the Special Prosecution managed to identify the unidentified person, aged 45, user of the vehicle with license plate AA653DM? If so, who was this person? If not, what is the circumstance/evidence/data that has created the prosecutor's conviction that this person is not Ols Rama? Was the police surveillance report dated 13.01.2015, at 15:50, accompanied by photographs of the unidentified person? Can you make this report available to us together with the accompanying video footage? (2) It turned out that citizen Ols Rama was the user of the vehicle with license plate AA653DM or AA393FJ, which also turned out to have been used in the same period by members of a criminal organization convicted of drug trafficking (citizens Genti Xhixho, Ermal Hoxha and Gentjan Gjonaj)? If so, what is the number of his entries and exits with this vehicle? Did it turn out that citizen Ols Rama had acquaintances, connections or social relationships with the persons included in the drug laboratory file in Xibraka? If so, with which persons did citizen Ols Rama have connections, acquaintances or relationships?

At the end of the request for information, Gazment Bardhi emphasizes that the conclusion of the investigations means that the information collected and the evidence for reaching the conclusions are no longer protected by investigative secrecy and for this reason, there is no legal obstacle to forwarding the information as above regarding the evidence collected, the investigative actions carried out, in order to reach this conclusion. "According to the law, the decision to discontinue or suspend a proceeding is made available to interested persons, who enjoy the right to request judicial control over the work of the prosecutor," writes Bardhi, writes A2 CNN.

"We believe that full transparency on a matter of public interest, involving persons who, according to public perception, are untouchable due to their political power or that of their relatives, contributes to citizens' trust in justice institutions. The lack of information, the avoidance of transparency and the closure of criminal files without any transparency, further increases the perception that justice continues to protect individuals who enjoy strong political power," concludes his letter to SPAK, the head of the DP parliamentary group, Gazment Bardhi.