Meeting of Albanian Helsinki Committee representatives with heads of the Ministry of Public Order

February , 26.  2004

Today, on the date February 26, 2004, at the request of the Albanian Helsinki Committee a meeting was arranged in the Ministry of Public Order with Mr.  Igli Toska, Minister of Public Order and senior leaders of the State Police. In this meeting there participated  Ms.Vasilika Hysi, AHC Executive Director, and Mr. Niazi Jaho, Legal Counsellor of this Committee.

In this meeting opinions were exchanged related to some problems encountered in the field of citizens rights and freedoms with a rigorous enforcement  of the law “On State Police” and the Code of the Criminal Procedure on the part of law enforcement officials, transparency on the part of the Ministry of Public Order and the further training of the law enforcement officials., etc.

Assessing the significance of the implementation of the adopted laws and the observance of the arrested and sentenced citizens’ rights, the target of the discussion in this meeting was the rapid transference of the detention system subject to the Ministry of Public Order under the dependency of the Ministry of Justice. According to the Albanian Helsinki Committee, this transference would end up once and for all the endless problems caused by the overlapping of powers between the Ministry of Order and Ministry of Justice as well as the violation of the rights of the arrested and sentenced people.

The Minister of Public Order understood the position of the Albanian Helsinki Committee related to its reactions in the cases of  the violation of the citizens freedoms and rights. He showed his willingness for a further cooperation with the Albanian Helsinki Committee about issues at the interest of both parties.