Italy arrests fugitive Albania’s ex-chief prosecutor – EURACTIV.com
The former Albanian public prosecutor, who fled the country after being sentenced to prison for corruption, has been arrested in Italy, Tirana police said on Monday (December 13th).
Adriatik Llalla was arrested on an international warrant and will await an extradition hearing, according to a police statement.
Former wanted attorney general Adriatik Llalla – who fled a two-year prison sentence in Albania – was arrested on December 10 in Italy, it was confirmed.
– Overview of the Balkans (@BalkanInsight) December 13, 2021
Llalla, once one of Albania’s most powerful men, was sentenced to two years in prison by a local court in May, but left the country shortly before his verdict became final last month.
The verdict showed that he gave false information about illegal assets.
These included an apartment in the seaside town of Durres and over two hectares of land, the total value of which exceeded one million euros.
The court ruled that Llalla, 52, “couldn’t explain” where he got the money to buy real estate and finance his trips to the United States and Germany.
He was also banned from holding public office for the next five years.
In 2018, Llalla and her family were banned from entering the United States because of her “involvement in significant corruption,” the State Department said at the time.
Llalla is the top official convicted of the Special Court on Corruption and Organized Crime, an institution established in 2019 as part of Albania’s tough efforts to clean up its corrupt justice system.
Thanks to an EU-backed justice reform, all members of the Albanian justice system will be subject to a review process. Some 800 judges and prosecutors are required to declare their assets and be assessed on their professionalism and reputation with the aim of eradicating corruption.
To date, around five years after the start of the screening, only half of the 800 eligible candidates have been screened, and half of them have been dismissed or resigned. The reform also saw most of the seats in the High Court and Constitutional Court become vacant, crippling them both for almost two years. While the two now have a quorum, the backlog of cases is in the tens of thousands.
Llalla says the charges against him are politically motivated and some media report that he has applied for political asylum in Italy.
The fight against corruption is a key condition for Albania’s candidacy for the EU.