February 13, 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. 730/2024, issued by the Independent Qualification Commission (IQC), concerning the assessee, Mr. Valentin Preçi 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 announced that the assessee, through the legal representative, requested the administration of additional documents in relation to the appeal grounds concerning the conflict of interest.
After submitting the aforementioned evidence, the assessee’s legal representative argued that the administration of the evidence referenced in the IMO’s “Findings” report exceeded the authority of entities not recognized by law. She therefore requested that the Chamber deem this evidence inadmissible and, instead, accept the additional documents provided by the assessee as a rebuttal to the international observers’ findings.
The Head of the Special Prosecution Office, in his statement regarding the IMO’s “Findings” report, requested that the panel review the referenced facts in relation to the background assessment and evaluate the conduct of the assessee, Mr. Valentin Preçi, in accordance with Article 48 of Law 84/2016. He argued that this conduct obstructed the discovery of the truth and contradicted the fundamental values of the magistrate and the ethical standards outlined in Law No. 96/2016.
Furthermore, the Head of the Special Prosecution Office objected to the admission of the evidence submitted by the assessee’s legal representative concerning the findings of the international observers. However, he raised no objections to the admission of additional documents provided by the assessee in response to the appeal grounds related to the conflict of interest.
After considering the parties’ positions, the adjudicating panel ruled to admit the IMO’s “Findings” report, along with its accompanying documents, as evidence and to accept the evidence submitted by the assessee during the hearing. The panel then concluded the judicial review and invited the parties to present their final arguments at the next hearing, scheduled for February 18, 2025, at 9:00 AM.