
The Special Court of First Instance, with a decision dated November 30, 2022, ordered SPAK to register criminal proceedings for the theft of 280 kg of gold in the high security tunnels in Krrabë during the 1997 riots, an event for which Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta have accused each other.
The court has also ordered SPAK to investigate the assets of Ilir Meta and Sali Berisha, whether it has been declared according to the law and whether or not it is related to the theft of the state treasury. The decision bears the signature of judge Flojera Davidhi, who overturns the decision of October 7, 2022 of the SPAK prosecutor, Manjola Kajana, for not starting the criminal proceedings related to the report of the lawyer Idajet Beqiri for the theft of Kërraba's gold. Beqiri demanded the criminal prosecution of Ilir Meta and Sali Berisha as suspected organizers and beneficiaries of the gold theft.
In the decision not to start, prosecutor Manjola Kajana says that the criminal offense referred to in the report of Idajet Beqiri has been prescribed according to the criminal legislation, since more than 20 years have passed. Secondly, SPAK prosecutor Manjola Kajana points out that 5 people were convicted for this event in 2001, with a final decision of the Military Court. And thirdly, according to the prosecutor, the criminal offense referred to by Beqiri, that of the structured criminal group, did not exist in the criminal legislation of the time.
Lawyer Beqiri appealed the decision to the court. According to Beqir, the decision is in flagrant contradiction with the criminal law and criminal procedure, as well as with the evidence and the facts. According to lawyer Beqiri, the prosecutor's decision does not correspond to the standard, responsibility and seriousness of SPAK, it treats the theft of Albanians' gold problems very superficially, it overlooks the most serious charges, there are justifications for only a small part of the charges and there are justifications that they only favor Meta and Berisha, who, according to Beqiri, are suspected organizers, inspirers and beneficiaries of the gold theft.
Judge Flojera Davidhi, overturning the decision not to initiate criminal proceedings, reasons that the prosecution cannot come to the conclusion that there is no criminal offense and that the criminal offenses have not been registered, without conducting investigations. The judge reasons that it is then up to the court to check and evaluate the prosecution's investigations. Flojera Davidhi emphasizes that we may be facing the continuation of the criminal offense, but without an exhaustive investigation, a conclusion cannot be reached.
The court says that the complainant claims that Ilir Meta and Sali Berisha created the assets with the stolen gold. According to the court, the complainant has no opportunity to prove this fact, so SPAK must verify the source of Meta's and Berisha's wealth, through letters addressed to ILDKPKI, mortgage, etc. In the court's decision, it is stated that SPAK, after conducting an exhaustive investigation, should appear in court for the dismissal of the case or the punishment of the responsible persons, if they are discovered.