DREAM / The Prime Minister resigns and wakes up under the Parisian bridge!

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Voxpress:

2026-09-30 16:33:00Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Prof. Dr. Qirjako Meniko passed away on August 7, at the age of 81. Born in Himara in 1945, graduated from the Higher Institute of Arts in 1970, former director of the National Gallery of Arts and author of texts on which entire generations of students learned the history of fine arts. The Minister of Culture conveyed him with the words usually used in such cases: a man who “dedicated his life to the formation of entire generations of artists.”

What the minister's message did not say is found in the Supreme Court registry. There, the professor's name still appears as a plaintiff in civil case no. 11243-03717-00-2017, which the heirs of Ilia Menikos have filed against the Property Management Agency. Its status: "In process".

It all started on June 18, 2009, when the Regional Office for Property Restitution and Compensation in Vlora issued decision no. 123 on the family's property. The Menikos challenged it in court, demanding recognition and return of the inherited property. After Vlora, on November 16, 2017, the file reached the High Court, this time with recourse from the Agency and the State Attorney's Office. It has been there for nine years. The hearing was scheduled for September 23 and is scheduled for October 28, 2026.

When the Vlora Office made the decision, the professor was 64 years old. He spent more than a fifth of his life waiting for the state to give him a final say on the family land. The word never came. The hearing date was set almost a month and a half after he had closed his eyes, and when rapporteur Artur Kalaja opens the file, his name will be there, on the list of plaintiffs, while he himself will not.

Meniko's case is not unique, and that's what makes it even more difficult. This is how property restitution has worked in Albania for years: decisions are made, contested, appealed, and then put in a queue, while the owners and heirs grow old and leave one after another. The state always has time. The citizen doesn't.

It will be said that property issues are complicated, that every document must be verified, that justice is not rushed. That may be true. But when a process lasts longer than the life of one party, it ceases to be a matter of care and turns into another form of taking. The land may be returned one day, or compensated. The years that the professor spent waiting cannot be returned by anyone, not by a court decision, not by compensation, not by a message of condolence on social media.

On October 28, the file will continue its journey, now with the heirs of the heir. Professor Meniko taught the students that a great painting requires patience to be understood. His state took the lesson literally, only it asked for patience from him. (Kontrast.al)


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