Changes to the Criminal Code, justice minister stuns: 56% in pre-trial detention are held without a court decision

Justice Minister Toni Gogu, a guest on today’s “Opinion” programme on Tv Klan, clarified a number of questions about the expected changes to the Criminal Code, which are also directly linked to the Special Prosecution.

Gogu clarified that the changes come as a consequence of Albanian jurisprudence, and that they have nothing to do with the actions SPAK takes in its investigative actions. According to him, the problem is that our country has no European standard as regards the pre-trial detention of individuals. He also cited figures, saying that 56% of the people in pre-trial detention are without a court decision.

The programme’s host, Blendi Fevziu, raised the question of why the Socialist government had become “sensitised” after 14 years in power, linking it also to the investigations that have been carried out into several politicians.

“The problem is old and the problem has been identified by Albanian society. We have reports… the reports of the Helsinki Committee, the reports of the State Advocate, the reports of the Council of Europe’s Committee on Torture since 2006 that speak about the problem of pre-trial detention in Albania, both for the number and for the duration. Albania has just passed a major test, which are the interim benchmarks for European membership, and we are getting ready to close the chapters. And a European justice system must have the same European standards.

The problem of pre-trial detention has nothing to do with SPAK and SPAK is not being handcuffed. Why? The figures: 2,210 detainees that we have today in our system, who are 56%, so in every two people in prison, one is a pre-trial detainee. Of these 2,210, 1,900 are still without a first-instance court decision. So, they do not yet have a court decision,” he said.

The minister denied that the changes have to do with these investigations and stressed that the rules that are changing are those before the court decides.

“We are not changing anything as regards the Criminal Code where the punishments are provided for, where the criminal offences are provided for. So, the criminal offences stay as they are, the punishments stay as they are. The investigative tools SPAK has at its disposal are as they are. The deadlines for SPAK to investigate are as they are. This has nothing to do with SPAK. This has to do with the citizen who today is in pre-trial detention, who may be, as we speak… you have people who are in pre-trial detention without a court decision and the changes that are coming to you are coming as a consequence of Albanian jurisprudence,” he said.