"Who is preventing Balluk's arrest?", Bardhi: SPAK should address the Parliament with a request for immunity

The head of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, Gazment Bardhi, has called on the Special Prosecution Office to address the Assembly with a request to lift the immunity and arrest former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku.

From a press conference, Bardhi accused SPAK of "double standards" and raised suspicions of political influence in the way the case was handled.

According to him, Balluk's criminal position has been aggravated and this, according to the standard that SPAK itself has previously followed, should lead to a stricter security measure and an official request to the Parliament.

Full statement by the head of the DP group, Gazment Bardhi:

"Since June 4, 2026, the Special Prosecution Office has been facing a crucial test of its credibility in the Balluku case: will it address the Assembly without further delay with a request to lift the immunity and arrest Belinda Balluku, or will it continue to apply double standards, giving Edi Rama and Belinda Balluku time for further political maneuvers?"

The test is crucial, because the criminal position of the former deputy prime minister has been aggravated, according to the public announcement of June 4, with suspicions of two new criminal offenses: passive corruption and money laundering. The Special Prosecution Office informed that it had discovered and seized Belinda Balluku's hidden villa in one of the luxury resorts in Dhërmi, which it suspects was obtained as a bribe and then hidden through fictitious contracts.

Ironically, the builder who, according to SPAK, helped Belinda Balluku hide this wealth is the same one who also built Edi Rama's super-luxury villa in Surrel. This raises other questions, which will come later. Today, let's focus on corruption, money laundering by Belinda Balluku and SPAK's double standard.

 Why the double standard?

Because in December, SPAK requested the lifting of immunity for the arrest of Belinda Balluku, relying on a standard that is no longer being applied today: when the criminal position is aggravated, the security measure must also be aggravated.

 In December, after the former deputy prime minister's criminal record was aggravated by 11 new episodes of tender abuse, SPAK tightened the request for a security measure, moving from a ban on leaving the country to a request for arrest. Six months ago, the head of SPAK argued this request before the Parliament with the words: "The severity of the criminal record increases the risk and dictates the need for a more severe security measure."

 We all remember the argument with which Edi Rama sought to have this request dismissed: "Belinda Balluku is not accused of corruption." It was precisely on this argument that the majority refused to give SPAK authorization to arrest her.

Today, SPAK itself has told Albanians that Belinda Balluku is suspected of both corruption and money laundering. So, what has changed? Edi Rama's argument has fallen and the majority can no longer hide behind it. SPAK cannot have one standard in December and another standard in June. When the criminal position is aggravated, the security measure must also be aggravated.

Therefore, the Special Prosecution Office owes Albanians some answers.

Why, now that SPAK itself has made public the aggravation of Belinda Balluku's criminal position with suspicions of corruption and money laundering, does it not address the Parliament with a request to lift her immunity and arrest her?
Who is preventing the Special Prosecution from implementing the law, when the law dictates that, with the aggravation of the criminal position, the security measure must also be aggravated, precisely the standard that SPAK itself set in December?
Has Edi Rama intervened with the new head of the Special Prosecution to postpone, at least until September, the implementation of the law and the same standard in the Balluku case?
 Double standards in the conduct of the Prosecution do not increase trust in justice, but destroy it. We should all be equal before the law. The law should have the same effect at all times. It is unacceptable that the law brings one reaction from the Prosecutor's Office in December 2025 and another reaction in June 2026. The law is the same in December 2025 and June 2026, while the behavior of the Special Prosecutor's Office is not. It is changing depending on the mood of the Prime Minister and this is not justice, but political and preferential treatment.

The Special Prosecution Office has only one way to pass the credibility test in the Balluku case: not to play politics according to the Prime Minister's momentary interests, not to become part of political machinations and calculations, but to enforce the law.

For this, SPAK no longer needs to make statements. It only needs one act: to address, without further delay, the Assembly with a request to lift the immunity and arrest Belinda Balluku.

 "Every day that passes without addressing the Assembly is a bad day for justice and for Albania."