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Respect the
Principle of the Presumption of Innocence and Court
Independence
06.11.2006
On November 3, 2006, the Prosecutor’s
Office sent to the Tiranė District Court a request to
establish a security measure on five persons: Niko
Dhima, Maxhit Alibali, Shpėtim Peza, Faik Ymeri, and
Alban Doda. They are accused of legalizing falsified
documents at the Consular Directory of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
The Court, on November 4, 2006, reviewed
the above request and decided unlimited detention in
prison for the first two; for the third person (Shpėtim
Peza), it ordered 20 days of detention so that during
investigations, prosecutors could establish his role in
the affair; whereas for Faik Ymeri and Alban Doda,
pursuant to article 231 of the Penal Procedure Code, it
ordered their release and their obligation to appear
before prosecutors.
The day after the Court's decision, on
November 5, 2006, the Interior Ministry reacted through
a press conference of its spokesman. In a statement
before the media, he considered the release of Faik
Ymeri and Alban Doda "absurd," because there were
"Sufficient and uncontestable proof" against them, that
"the Tirana Court, through a flagrant violation,
released the main mediators Faik Ymeri and Alban Dodaj.
The Interior Ministry expresses its concern about this
issue, whereby the months-long work to discover the
group, the gathering of dozens of evidence, and the
submission of numerous documents were sabotaged and
invalidated by the justice body."
The Albanian Helsinki Committee deems it
necessary to emphasize that the competency of any body,
including the Prosecutor's Office, the court, judicial
police, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc., are
established in the Constitution and in relevant legal
provisions.
In this sense, AHC has reacted also
previously toward statements running against the
principle of the presumption of innocence, sanctioned in
article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and
article 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Albania, which stipulates: "Everybody is considered
innocent until guilt is proven through a final court
decision."
Continued
The Interior Ministry Spokesman, speaking
of "uncontestable" proof, thus violated this principle,
because he assumed the attributes of a court, in fact,
of the court that declares the accused person guilty
through a final decision. It is worth mentioning that
the court decided in keeping with the prosecutor's
request.
AHC emphasizes that the Prosecutor's
Office, which is the only penal prosecution body and,
which, in this capacity, requested the court to
establish a security measure, would not be permitted to
make such a statement. Its only right, if it were to
disagree on the case in question with the court's
decision, would be a complaint with the highest court.
The Albanian Helsinki Committee considers
very hasty and unacceptable also that part of the
statement of the Interior Ministry's Spokesman that
labels the court as a "saboteur" of the work done to
discover the group.
For AHC, such expressions, even
indirectly, are pressure on the court, while it is known
that: "Judges are independent and only subject to the
Constitution and the laws," and that, "Intervention into
the activity of courts or judges leads to legal
responsibility" (Article 145 of the Constitution).
Considering that cases of the violation
of the principle of the presumption of innocence are
repeated and that they may be accompanied by harmful
consequences, the Albanian Helsinki Committee calls upon
senior state officials and the entire public
administration to respect this important constitutional
principle.
The European Court of Human Rights, in
some of its decisions, has emphasized that this
principle should be enforced by the public
administration as well.
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