Albania: High Court Highway Ruling Stalled

Tirana | 03 June 2009 |

Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha

The publication of an Albanian Supreme Court ruling on April 30 that overruled district and appellate court rulings that had suspended the Albania-Kosovo highway corruption case, is been stalled in the high court.

Albania’s Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha was a defendant in the case, indicted on abuse of power charges.

The ruling has not been officially published yet, but once it is it will pave the way for prosecutors to file an appeal to reopen the case. Despite the fact that the law calls for any ruling to be cleared within 30 days, the only judge in the panel in favor of the foreign minister has refused to sign it.

In early May, the same court had dismissed the charges over investigation procedure time limits, arguing that Basha had not been indicted properly last November, while prosecutors claimed that the process was in accordance with the law.

According to legal experts, the April 30 ruling will make it possible for General Prosecutor Ina Rama to indict Basha again on charges of abuse of power and violating tender rules relating to the highway project. If convicted, the minister could face up to 12 years in prison.

The charges related to the time when Basha served as Albania’s minister of transportation and public works from 2005 to 2007.

The 61-kilometre Rreshen-Kalimash section of the Albania-Kosovo highway is costing Albania at least €1.027 billion, according to the charges earlier filed against Basha.

However, because the highway is not yet finished, its final cost be greater. The Rreshen-Kalimash section is only a part of the 170-km highway. Albania’s government has declined to give a clear estimate of the final costs of the project.

The prosecution says irregularities in the tender have so far cost Albanian taxpayers some  230 million euros - an estimate based on the average price of construction material and labour costs in comparison with what Albania is paying to build the road.

The highway, which will link the Albanian port of Durres to Kosovo and includes a 5.6 km-long tunnel, is the country’s biggest public works project in decades.

Prosecutor General Ina Rama probed alleged irregularities in the tender for the construction of the highway won by the American-Turkish consortium, Bechtel-Enka, for more than 17 months

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