INSURRECTION/ SP MPs rebel, drag Gjati to vote on territorial division!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

"I was smoking and..." - How arson files are being "lost" in the courts

2026-08-13 22:56:34Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA ANILA HOXHA
"I was smoking and..." - How arson files are being "lost" in
Fires in Albania

Almost an entire forest burned down for a cigarette butt. Exclusive accounts of people convicted of arson and the powerlessness of the judiciary to punish environmental crimes

Skënder P. still needs three months to complete the sentence handed down by Judge Taulant Banushaj, who found him guilty of negligent arson.

Three years ago, Skënder P. endangered several homes in the village of Kus.

He was sentenced to 32 months of probation, with the obligation to maintain contact with the local Probation Service office in Tirana.

Among the duties that the 58-year-old has is not only to not commit a criminal offense, but by presenting himself and being interviewed, he must provide evidence that he has reflected on the care he should take with fire.

The man from Vora briefly tells "Faktoje" that the expression: "beware of fires and the state" is true, given that he almost got burned by the first, while he is serving his sentence for the second.

Almost a forest disappeared for a cigarette butt   

As he stated before the court, Skënder recalls: "I was smoking and at one point I fell asleep. I heard screaming and saw people trying to put out the fire. I didn't understand how it happened."

He insists that everything happened out of negligence.

Regarding this claim, the court states, among other things, that: "The defendant should have foreseen the consequences that could come, but he did not foresee that, by smoking, he could cause a fire in this area due to the type of vegetation and the period (July) when the fire was caused."

The Tirana Prosecution Office charged him with "Negligent destruction of forests and the forest environment by fire."

This time, it didn't take much work for the authorities to prove the authorship, which is reflected in a report of the arrest in flagrante delicto, which describes the 58-year-old as he tried to extinguish the fire with the residents.

The burning of nearly 5,000 meters of forest (administrative unit Kashar) was considered a "serious consequence that affects the ecosystem in that area, making it unnecessary to calculate the resulting consequences in monetary terms."

From 5 years in prison to probation

Citizen OD was sentenced to five years in prison, but benefited from a shortened trial by having his 3 years of time converted into probation.

In front of Judge Vjollca Spahiu, the young man said only one sentence: "Mercy, forgiveness, I repent."

The charge against him was the destruction of forests and the forest environment by fire.

He wanted to clear a 50-meter area in the village of Kutreq by burning, but the situation got out of hand and the fire exploded, damaging approximately 3 hectares, mainly pine trees and shrubs located in the territory of protected areas.

The damage calculated in this case was 1,050,000 lek, which, according to Council of Ministers Decision No. 558, dated 29.07.2022, was assessed as a violation with serious consequences.

The situation

Meanwhile, fires have returned threateningly this year.

Gentian Mullaj, spokesperson for the State Police, told Faktoje that: "As a result of the timely response of the Police structures during the period 01.06.2026–11.08.2026, 21 citizens suspected of being perpetrators were arrested throughout the country, some of whom were caught red-handed; 44 citizens were processed at large and 3 citizens were declared wanted."

Kruja without author

Among them was 74-year-old QB, arrested on August 9 for committing the criminal offense of "destruction of property by fire", after a fire that started in the Abazaj neighborhood of the Krujë Municipality and endangered the entire city.

In the report, officers write that they found the 74-year-old trying to put out the fire with buckets.

During the investigation, the prosecution determined that the elderly man was not the perpetrator of the arson, so it ordered his release and declared the detention unlawful.

"In the criminal proceeding file administered at the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction, Tirana, no direct or indirect evidence has been administered that citizen QB intentionally set fire to the property near his apartment, which, we emphasize, would be the first to be damaged by the fire due to its proximity to the place where the fire broke out.

The only clue is the proximity of the apartment to the place where the fire started, as well as the fact that this citizen passed this street twice a day because he worked at the water depot that supplied his neighborhood and the city of Kruja.

The prosecution has registered the criminal proceedings without a perpetrator and will continue to conduct detailed, comprehensive, independent and objective investigations with the aim of administering all necessary evidence and revealing the incident, whether it was intentional or accidental, thus holding the person/persons responsible accountable."

What's wrong with finding authors?

Mihallaq Qirjo, head of REC Albania and director of one of the few studies on environmental justice in the cities of Korça, Elbasan and Tirana, says that the chain of investigation is not functioning properly.

"The most problematic link is that of judicial police officers, who are responsible for collecting evidence even in cases when it is reported by the police, individuals or other organizations.

Delays in collecting environmental evidence and the lack of clarity in the environmental legal framework on the level of damage and the effects that environmental crimes cause on health, the ecosystem and biodiversity, make it problematic to provide environmental justice.

Judiciary with dirty files

A Supreme Court of Justice instruction dated May 6, 2026, requests the Court of Appeal to review, as a priority, issues aimed at environmental and climate protection.

Fully aware of this instruction, which prioritizes environmental trials on the judges' calendar, in addition to those related to the interests of children, child support, divorce lawsuits, and labor relations, the chancellor of this court, Lertida Balili, sees this move as a good omen.

But she adds that, "the backlog by the end of July has reached 46,679 cases, which need to be tried by only 41 judges."

It is a fact that the Court of Appeals is still reviewing cases from 2018, including those with deadlines and those for which acceleration is requested. Since according to this instruction, acceleration can also be requested for this category, of course it is a good signal. But, to my knowledge, there has been no request to accelerate this category so far.

At a time when the draft of the New Criminal Code is still in process and when a larger range of criminal offenses is envisaged for environmental justice, 19 offenses are punishable in the current package.

These include provisions on arson, the destruction of property by fire.

Official data: Many prosecutions, few convictions 

From the official data that the General Prosecutor's Office made available to the Fact-Finding Office for environmental crimes over the last five years, it is noted that the number of referrals is high for the acts of forest fire destruction (Article 206/a) and negligent forest fire destruction (Article 206/b).

Specifically, the data shows that out of 314 environmental crimes (95 of which were dismissed), 40 proceedings for 2021 were for fires, but only two defendants were sent to court, who were convicted.

Eleven cases were dismissed, while the others were referred for further investigation and then suspended for lack of perpetrators.

"I was smoking and..." - How arson files are being "lost" in

In 2022, the trend continues the same: 34 criminal proceedings were registered for these crimes, seven names were registered under investigation, and ultimately two convicted persons appeared before the court and pleaded guilty.

For this year, a total of 372 criminal proceedings were registered throughout the country, of which 130 were dismissed.

In 2023, exclusive data made available to Faktoje again shows environmental investigations being lost on the way to proceedings; 343 proceedings were registered as environmental crimes, of which 146 were dismissed and 79 were suspended.

During this year, 26 cases of intentional and negligent arson were investigated, but only three citizens faced charges in court.

In 2024, 299 criminal proceedings were registered as environmental crimes, of which 53 were related to fire investigations.

Five arsonists ended up in court, all five of whom were convicted.

Across the spectrum of environmental issues this year, 225 cases were dismissed

In 2025, 330 environmental cases were registered, of which 58 were arson investigations.

Six people were taken into custody.

This year, 140 investigations were suspended due to lack of perpetrators and 80 were dismissed.

The crime that is observed to have the highest volume in this five-year period is that of illegal logging, waste management, and air, water, and soil pollution.

"I was smoking and..." - How arson files are being "lost" in

In total, 1,658 environmental proceedings have been registered over the last five years, with more than half being dismissed or suspended.

Meanwhile, 211 proceedings have been registered for arson crimes, but only 18 people have appeared in court and been convicted.

Consequences

Mr. Qirjo tells Faktoje that during the in-depth analysis of the entire environmental justice chain, it was found that the criminal and administrative investigation is quite low. "The procedure is quite long," emphasizes Qirjo, according to whom the strongest weapon still remains the community to protect the environment./ Faktoje.al

Galeria fotografike (
)


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×