Debate at the GJKKO/ Meta-judge Bani: You are extremely biased, you treat me like a Ukrainian terrorist

The next hearing is being held at the GJKKO against the leader of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta, who was present and involved in the debate during the trial. The hearing became tense after Meta sought to object to the statements of SPAK prosecutor, Sotir Kllapi, but the court decided that he should speak after the indictment's report is completed.

Prosecutor Kllapi presented details from the investigations into LSI lobbying in the US, based on FARA registry data and contracts with the company DSIS.

According to him, the company has reported lobbying activity for the SMI worth over 460 thousand dollars, while the Albanian side has declared much lower payments.

The investigation, according to SPAK, has revealed discrepancies in payments and suspicions that some of the funds may have been covered through third parties and companies linked to Adrian Shatku.

The prosecution alleges that some payments were made without full transparency and that the funds were used for lobbying and meetings of SMI officials in the US, including Ilir Meta and Petrit Vasili.

SPAK raises suspicions that part of the amounts may have illegal origins and have been used to justify the financing of lobbying activity, considering it a possible case of money laundering.

During the hearing, Meta strongly objected to the procedure, accusing the court of bias and demanding to speak immediately, but the panel insisted on respecting the rules of procedure.

Excerpt from the debate

Meta: This is being done intentionally to confuse the media so that it is not understood that a fraud is being committed. Do not interrupt me at all. The prosecutor started with the last session. I know the rules well, the court must be both independent and impartial. I want to give you an answer about the last session and then we will continue according to what is there.

Ilir Meta: You are extremely biased, even the media should listen, and I am here as a Ukrainian terrorist.

Erion Bani: the court decides who speaks and who doesn't, the prosecution should finish first, then you, there are rules of procedure

Ilir Meta: They are terrified of the truth, this is the impartiality of the court. You are extremely biased.

Erion Bani: Request for exemption from military service

Ilir Meta: I have no request, because the best of all of you is Irena Gjoka. I respect the rules of the law, until the gentleman started with the last session it was my right to provide clarification on this matter because journalists can leave and move.
SPAK's position on LSI lobbying in the USA

Sotir Kllapi: In the US there is an official organization called FARA. On this official website, which operates under the US Department of Justice, all lobbying companies report their activities. Among other things, the lobbying contracts of the SMI are also reported there.

There is also an agreement with the company DSIS, which has declared the contracts with LSI for 2016, all invoices and the activity it has carried out on its behalf. Initially, there was a level of communication with Ilir Meta, then there was communication with Petrit Vasili.

There are suspicions that of the $463,000 reported by the company, only $93,000 was paid by LSI through three payments and invoices. We requested data, but were told that there was no longer access to these accounts, as they had been closed.

We continued our investigation into the services provided by this company, where we learned that it secured meetings for Ilir Meta with senators, members of the Department of Justice, and officials from the Department of Arts and Culture. The company has made all invoices available.

Meta, Vasili and Luan Rama have claimed that they are unaware of other payments, so we continued the investigation.

Among other things, it turns out that, in addition to the meetings we mentioned in the previous session, this company organized the arrival of several citizens in Albania during the years 2016-2017. In these circumstances, we became interested in their activity in Albania.

We have verified the payments at the hotels and it turns out that some of them were made by Adrian Shatku or with the latter's bank cards. Suspicions are raised that the other payments, in total, may have been made by this citizen or his companies.

Since DSIS was closed, we sent a letter of request for Adrian Shatku's accounts. From the responses it appears that, within the framework of the agreement with DSIS, the latter has issued 18 invoices to LSI.

Three invoices, the first, second and fourth, were those we had found in Albania from relations with DSIS. From the total of invoices, it results that DSIS has issued 18 invoices to LSI in different amounts. Three were paid by LSI, while 12 were paid by the company Unifi in the amount of about 279,783 dollars. For three other invoices, in the amount of about 93 thousand dollars, we were unable to provide data.

The charge is that the sum of $279,783, in addition to being the proceeds of corruption, was also used as a form of laundering the proceeds of crime. This money was presented as legitimate payments, although it was suspected to be the proceeds of corruption.

A seemingly legal agreement was signed, with money that appeared to be legitimate.

Ilir Meta has been to the US several times. In addition to official visits, he has also held other meetings outside the official agenda, which have been reported as services provided by the DSIS company. He has been aware of this fact.

In light of this agreement, meetings have also been invited and reported for other officials, such as Minister Petrit Vasili.

The service provided by the company in the US is legal, while according to the indictment, the method of securing the money to finance it is illegal.