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OP-ED

The arrest of Berisha as the beginning of impunity

Politiko 2023-12-31 15:50:02

The arrest of Berisha as the beginning of impunity

Alfred Lela

"Sali Berisha, 79 years old, known as "Padrino" in the "Metamorfoza" file, and with strong ties to transnational drug crime, was placed under house arrest by GJKKO on Saturday morning. Berisha, one of the big oligarchs in the country, with activities in infrastructure and services, the builder of Rruga e Kombit, of the Elbasan tunnel, and recently of Llogara and Rruga e Arbrit, is known for his access to public funds. Berisha's arrest was made after the police authorities of France handed over to Albania the decoded file of Sky phones, where Berisha frequently appeared in messages with the " strategic investor" Pëllumb Gjoka and a series of others from the world of crime. Despite his age, he was known for his lavish lifestyle, charter trips, liaisons with younger women, and sponsorship of screen and music stars. Minister Taulant Balla and Prime Minister Rama hailed Baca's arrest "as a spectacular achievement similar to Albania's flux of 10 million tourists this year". The US, EU, and British embassies issued statements supporting restricting the oligarchs' freedom"".
The text above is imaginary, so take it as a parody. Still, when you read the defense that the pro-government supporters make of the arrest of Sali Berisha, the opposition leader, only such an accompanying text would fit into the chronicle of the event. Hidden remains that he is not only the citizen Sali Berisha but the leader of the opposition, and especially the conclusion that the measure against him ends impunity and frees the opposition constitutes a logic that betrays the truth and insults logic.
Sali Berisha became a target of the judiciary only after being re-elected as the opposition's chairman. As a citizen, Sali Berisha was not harassed by the justice authorities even though he had been away from power since 2013.
Is this a coincidence? It would be one of those "1 in 1 million" cases where many circumstances are coincidences.
As the opposition leader, Sali Berisha is politically isolated today, stripped of his rights. There is no charge against him, but he has been isolated. He is isolated even though SPAK violated the Constitution by bypassing the Parliament. Subsequently, instead of correcting the mistake by withdrawing the measure, the Prosecutor's Office made it tougher, even though nothing had changed. Consequently, the prosecution fell into the projection that Sali Berisha had built for them, rightly or wrongly, considering them a political tool in the hands of PM Rama.
Moreover, intensifying the security measure of "house arrest" with police surveillance and removal of communication makes the measure highly political because it introduces the court to configurations outside of its context and nature. The judges know, even though they may not desire that Sali Berisha is the leader of the opposition. Blocking communication means blocking the contacts of a political leader with the party and with the voters; this, volens non-volens, in a democratic order, creates a political insinuation.
What counts in the Berisha case is not that justice is acting, but it is insinuating political realities outside its nature. It is becoming a new knot in the Gordian tangle of powers in one man's hand. The illusion that justice is a power independent from the executive branch is strongly opposed by the current course where the opposition leaders are persecuted for the past. In contrast, the leaders currently in power can project a future without opposition, that is, without impunity for themselves.