January
20. 2004
After
the tragedy of January 9. 2004, searches and seizures have
been undertaken in some considerable objects in some districts of
the country. Albanian Helsinki Committee is unbiased about the
above operations especially when they aim at hitting the organized
crime and its prevention.
However, considering that this is an emergency operation of a
considerable large extent, there is very much likely that the law
is not observed appropriately and as a result leading to the
violation of the citizens' freedoms and rights.
From the reports, the impression is that this operation is
undertaken with the judicial police initiative. Even if it
is true, this is not a legal violation, because in separate
cases, when it is very much likely that the evidence or objects
belonging to the criminal offense are changed or destroyed , and
when the prosecutor himself is unable to intervene immediately,
then this right is transferred to the judicial police. It is worth
mentioning that under the Criminal Procedure Code the
decisions of seizures in cases prescribed by law, are made by the
Court or the Prosecutor.
That's why AHC suggests to the district prosecutors that while
assessing the legitimacy of the operations undertaken by the
judicial police they need to regard the fact if the case in
question is urgent or not. According to the press report of
January 19. 2004, the Prosecutor of Tirana lifted the seizure for
the bars "Venecia” and “Tirana”. This shows that
the measures taken were neither regular nor well-grounded.
AHC also suggests to the General Prosecutor's Office to prioritize
the proceedings of this case in order that the district
prosecutor's office enforce the law rigorously.
As a conclusion, it is worth highlighting that as regards the
seizures undertaken by the judicial police and actually the
prosecutor's decisions , certain intending individuals may have
different complaints and claims. In such cases the law
acknowledges their right to a court appeal within 10 days.
Tirana,
January 20. 2004
