Berisha meets the Council of Europe Secretary General: Criminal Code changes should undergo Venice expertise

Democratic Party chairman Sali Berisha held a meeting in Strasbourg with the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Despina Chatzivassiliou, where discussions focused on the latest legal developments in Albania and the proposed package of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code.

After the meeting, Berisha stated that he had presented the opposition’s concerns to the European side regarding the proposed amendments, arguing they could affect the way evidence is administered and assessed in investigative processes.

“With this package, besides excluding prison sentences for measures under five, under five years of sentence, Edi Rama seeks at all costs to devalue evidence by law, to devalue the evidence found on mobile phone devices, to devalue the evidence found in various places. I recalled that this effort is in flagrant contradiction with the Strasbourg Judgment and the French Court, which have deemed the recordings found on the gangs valid and fully usable. So what they failed to do through pressure on justice, they now seek to do by law.”

He announced that he had asked that the package not be approved without specialized review and that it undergo the expertise of the Venice Commission.

According to Berisha, during the conversation with the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, it was clarified that the package of amendments was not drafted, suggested or approved by Council of Europe experts.

“The Secretary General assured me that the Council of Europe and its experts have not approved this package and that it was not suggested or drafted by the institution’s specialists,” Berisha declared.

The DP leader also emphasized that communication with Council of Europe institutions will continue regarding the legal and institutional developments in Albania.