US Ambassador Fears Courts 'Pressured' in Tahiri Case

The US ambassador to Albania Donald Lu warned on Sunday that pressure is high on the judges handling the case of former interior minister Saimir Tahiri - who is expected to appear before the Serious Crime Appeals Court on Monday after being put under house arrest on May 12.

Tahiri's lawyer wants him freed while awaiting trial on charges of drug trafficking, abuse of power and corruption; prosecutors seek his imprisonment.

"We have information from independent sources of serious pressures on this case, including bribes offered to judges," Lu told balkanweb.com news website.

"We call on civil society and the media to closely monitor the case to make sure that the verdict is based on facts and laws and not on pressures," Lu added.

Tahiri's lawyer, Maks Haxhia, refused to comment, telling BIRN he did not believe Ambassador Lu had made such a statement. However, the US embassy in Albania confirmed its veracity.

BIRN was unable to contact the former minister who insists he is innocent. However, prosecutors says they have proof of his close relations with a major group of drug traffickers referred to as the "Habilaj Brothers".

Moisi and Florian Habilaj are charged in Italy with trafficking dozens of tons of marijuana from Vlora in Albania to Italy, worth tens of millions of euros wholesale - an activity that Italian court documents say was conducted between 2013 and 2017.

Moisi Habilaj was arrested last October in Catania on the island of Sicily while the other brother is still on the run.

Tahiri is accused of helping the traffickers by providing them with his private car; three other police officers have been charged, and are currently on the run, for securing the band a free rein in their zone of operations in southern...