Accused of abuse of office, house arrest for Rexhe Byberi

GJKKO has ordered house arrest for the mayor of Tropoja, Rexhe Byberi

"The Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime in Tirana has registered criminal proceedings no. 1 of 2024, for the criminal offense "Abuse of duty", "Illegal cutting of forests" and "Destruction of property" provided by articles 248, 205 and 150 of the Criminal Code, on the basis of criminal procedure acts no. 131 of 2021 that were sent for competence by the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of the General Jurisdiction in Kuka, registered by it on 09.08.2021, for the suspicious elements of criminal offenses for subjects for which the Special Prosecutor's Office is competent. Corruption and Organized Crime. It follows from the acts that, on 09.08.2021, the Prosecutor's Office at the Tropoja Judicial District Court registered criminal proceedings No. 131 of 2021 for the criminal offense of "Destruction of property" provided by Article 150 of the Criminal Code. Also, the Prosecutor's Office at the Tropoja Judicial District Court has registered criminal proceedings no. 27 of 2023 for the criminal offense of "Abuse of duty" and "Illegal cutting of forests" provided by article 248 and 205 of the Criminal Code. The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of the General Jurisdiction in Kukës has registered criminal proceedings no. 444 of 2023 for the criminal offense of "Abuse of duty" and "Illegal cutting of forests" provided by article 248 and 205 of the Criminal Code. With the decision dated 12.09.2023, it was decided to merge these single proceedings with No. 131 of 2021 for the criminal offense of "Abuse of duty", "Illegal cutting of forests" and "Destruction of property" provided by articles 248 , 205 and 150 of the Criminal Code.

As a whole, from the procedural actions carried out up to this stage of the investigation, there are reasonable doubts that the citizen Rexhe Byberi, in the capacity of the Mayor of Tropoja, in cooperation with the citizen Abedin Kîrnaja, acting as deputy mayor of the Municipality of Tropoja, has committed actions/inactions that constitute regular non-fulfilment of duty, committed in violation of Article 11 No. 408, dated 13.5.2015 "On the approval of the territorial development regulation", during the process of opening roads according to the projects approved by the Municipal Council:

Decision of the Municipal Council No. 34 date 30.03.2021 For the approval in principle of the project idea of ​​the road "Palç Ship Station - Guri i Lules", from which it turns out that the project idea for the construction of the highway "Palç Ship Station - Guri i Lules" has been approved in principle , with a length of 3.2km, totally new construction, which 80% of this length passes through the existing pedestrian road.

Decision of the Prefect of Kukës District with No. 2/31 Prot. dated 15.04.2021, which confirms the legality of decisions No. 34 of the Tropoja Municipality Council for the construction of the highway "Ship Station Palç- Guri i Lules" and the Decision of the Municipal Council No. 35 date 30.03.2021 For the approval in principle of the "Qafë Murrizi-Qafë Agri" road project idea.

These works were done in violation of the legal and by-laws cited above. Specifically, for the performance of the works cited above, based on VKM 408 dated 13.05.2015 (amended), for the opening of a new road, the interested subject had to apply in the electronic e-permit system, at the Tropoja Municipality, as local institution that has the right to review and approve the infrastructure construction permit, after having verified the completion of the necessary technical-legal documentation by the applicant that the legislation provides for these types of works. Specifically, in Article 15 of VKM no. 408 dated 13.05.2015 (amended), the technical-legal documents that must be deposited in the e-permit system, during the application of the request for infrastructure construction permit, have been specified. Also, the Municipality of Tropoja had to cooperate with other competent institutions for the construction of the road, such as: the National Environment Agency, for the need to draw up the Environmental Impact Assessment Report, to cooperate with the Ministry of Lines (provided in the electronic system e- permit) for the impact of the construction of the new road and the consequences of these construction works. This cooperation is foreseen in article 20, point 6 of VKM no. 408 dated 13.05.2015 (amended).

As part of the investigative actions, the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime has scheduled the performance of a technical-topographical expertise act. From the performance of the act of expertise, it has resulted that the opening of the roads according to the projects approved by the Municipal Council was done in violation of the legal and by-laws in force, causing a damage of 277.611.520 (two hundred seventy-seven million six hundred eleven thousand five hundred twenty) Lek.

Based on the request of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime in Tirana, the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime, with decision No. 112 dated 09.09.2024, among other things, decided:

Acceptance of the request of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime.

The appointment of the coercive measure of personal security "House arrest" provided by Article 237 of the Criminal Code for the citizen of RB, suspected of committing the criminal offense "Abuse of duty", carried out in cooperation, provided by articles 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code.

The appointment of the coercive measure of personal security "House arrest" provided by article 237 of the Criminal Code for the citizen of AK, suspected of committing the criminal offense "Abuse of duty", committed in cooperation, provided by articles 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code.

The Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime, as well as the National Bureau of Investigation, is ordered to execute this decision.

The Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime has sent for execution the decision No. 112 dated 06.09.2024 of the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime, which was executed by the State Police".