DP Chair refuses to be interviewed by prosecutors on U.S. lobbying; Prosecutors to summon him by force

On Monday, Democratic Party (DP) Chair Lulzim Basha did not respond to the Tirana Prosecutors’ summons to be questioned as a person under investigation on the suspected affair related to the DP’s lobbying efforts in the United States.

Basha refused to appear before the Prosecutors arguing that they did not provide him with the evidence supporting the criminal charges against him. The Tirana prosecutors reacted to Basha’s rejection of the summons by issuing a warrant to have him taken forcibly to the Prosecutors’ Office.

As per the prosecutors’ order, Basha has time to appear before them by 20 June the latest. The prosecutors are also investigating former DP General Secretary Arben Ristani and former DP treasurer Ilir Dervishi in regards to the same suspected affair.

They are charged with fragmented financial actions and transactions to avoid reporting as per the legislation on the prevention of money-laundering, and falsification or use of false seals, stamps or forms or the presentation of false circumstances in the forms addressed to state structures.  

Basha and other DP officials claim that these are political allegations brought on by Rama to cover up the real issues.