27 January 2025
The Head of the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), Mr. Altin Dumani, in exercising the powers of the Public Commissioner, was present today at the Appeal Chamber, to proceed with the judicial review of the appeal against decision no. 524/2022, issued by the Independent Qualification Commission (IQC), concerning the assessee, Ms. Elfrida Bregova serving as a prosecutor at the Prosecution Office by the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Tirana.
During the verification of the parties’ attendance, the presiding judge informed that, following the end of the Public Commissioners’ mandate, their competencies are exercised by the Head of the Special Prosecution Office, under Article 179/b, point 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania. Subsequently, after confirming with the parties that they had reviewed the respective submissions provided by the Appeal Chamber, the presiding judge invited the Head of the Special Prosecution Office to outline the appeal grounds.
The Head of the Special Prosecution Office, adhering to all the appeal grounds, requested the Chamber to investigate into the administration of information from the construction company regarding its actions in connection with the apartment declared by the assessee and the related party. Additionally, the Head (of SPO)requested the administration of the criminal proceedings and graphical expertise reports from the Prosecution Office by the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Elbasan, as cited in the decision of the Independent Qualification Commission, related to the asset assessment. To enable a comprehensive investigation into the background assessment, the Head of the Special Prosecution Office also requested that the Chamber include, as referenced in the law, information from the verifying institution (SHISH) in the report of the Classified Security Information Directorate (CSID), as such information was missing from the report on the assessee. In conclusion, the Head requested the opening of a judicial investigation and the administration of the requested evidence, in line with the appeal filed on May 24, 2022.
The assessee and the legal representative opposed the appeal grounds and, in support of their claims, requested the inclusion of new evidence. Subsequently, the assessee responded to questions addressed by the international observer regarding the appeal grounds.
Following deliberation in the consultation chamber, the adjudicating panel reached the following decisions:
- To accept the documents submitted by the assessee as evidence;
- To gather information from the construction company, as requested by the Head of the Special Prosecution Office;
- To request an update report dated November 2, 2017, from NACIS (formerly CSID), to include information from the verifying institution, which had not been reviewed during the drafting of the initial report.
The presiding judge notified the parties that the details of a public denunciation, submitted to the Appeal Chamber during the previous summer, would also be made available to them.
Additionally, the adjudicating panel decided to adjourn the hearing to February 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., while pending the requested information.
The appeal and the elements of the case have been published on the official SPAK website, in the “Re-evaluation Process” section: https://spak.gov.al/
The Head of the Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime, in accordance with Article 179/b, paragraph 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, has been exercising the powers of the Public Commissioners as of 1 January 2025.
