Once again, the Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime decided to refuse the request of the former Minister of Environment, Lefter Koka for a lighter security measure than being in custody. This is the third time that Koka's request to leave prison is turned down.
The decision was taken by judge Erjon Bani after dpending some time in the Counseling Room.
As clarified in the reasoning of the decision, the judge Bani left in power the security measure of prison custody for the ex-minister, not because Mr. Koka poses any risks for the society or because he could interfere in the investigation evidence, as requested by law for intermediary decisions. The reason behind the intermediary decision is the image of the Albanian institutions in the eyes of the international community(!)
In the reasoning of the decision, which was procured by Voxnews.al, Lefter Koka was left in prison by judge Bani with the intention to improve the image of the Albanian judicial system in the eyes of the public opinion.
Even for the freshmen in the Faculty of Justice or anybody with minimal judicial knowledge, the reasoning is simply ridiculous. Besides being judicially illogical, the reasoning is also grammatically and linguistically awkward, with a number of words and terms being frequently repeated and lacking any logical flow.
It is not clear if the confusing writing style was intentional or just indicatory of the judge’s background.
This is what was specifically stated in Judge Bani’s reasoned decision in response to Mr. Lefter Kokas request.
"In the request regarding the type of security measure required to be determined, the court takes into account the proportionality and specific suitability of security needed in this case with the type of security measure in relation to the category of criminal offenses suspected of having been committed !! ! ”states Judge Bani.
The meaning of the section “proportionality and specific suitability” that the judge refers to, is not clarified in the following lines. Yet, the most ridiculous part is in the following sentence, in which the judge diminish the disfigured image of the judicial system in the eyes of the national and international public opinion, leaving former minister Koka in jail.
Consequently, this lack of trust have affected and still affect the image of the country in relation to economic freedom and the rule of law, as well as the economic development of society and private economic activities," he states.
The reasoning becomes vaguer, when the judge claims that “for these reasons, the necessity for the general and specific prevention for this category of crimes is high”./VoxNews.al