TIRANA, March 12 /ATA/ The majority rapporteur on the Council for Rules, Mandates, and Immunities, Ulsi Manja, presented today the report related to the request from the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), which seeks the arrest of Member of Parliament Belinda Balluku.
In today’s plenary session, Manja, speaking on the opposition’s report presented by Oerd Bylykbashi, noted that this is the seventh request from the prosecutorial body to be submitted to Parliament seeking authorization for the arrest of a member of parliament, as well as for personal or home searches.
Manja argued that the report on Balluku’s case was overly detailed and, in his view, conflicted with the Constitution and criminal procedure code. He noted that since Balluku no longer holds executive office, any personal security measures or suspension from the Council of Ministers have no legal effect.
“In the same rationale, the narrative of the Special Prosecution, which built its request around the application of the most severe personal security measures—such as the risk of evidence tampering, flight, or commission of another criminal act—remains essentially hypothetical, as it is directly tied to executive functions that the member of parliament in question no longer exercises,” Manja stated.
Manja underscored that the submission of this report to Parliament should not be regarded as a merely procedural formality.
“It constitutes a direct constitutional duty of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania and reflects institutional respect for the judiciary. Most importantly, it represents an obligation to the Albanian citizens who have entrusted their representation to us,” he stated.
“All the more so in a situation where this case, which should remain within the jurisdiction of the judiciary, has today been unjustly transformed into a debate excessively politicized in the eyes of public opinion,” Manja added.
“Instead of a calm, fair, and due legal process, we have frequently witnessed attempts to shift this case into a public trial—a media tribunal—which runs counter to the standards of the rule of law and the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence,” he continued.
“For these reasons, it is imperative that we, as the parliamentary majority, speak with clarity: to separate politics from justice, noise from evidence, and public opinion from the due legal process,” Manja underscored.
“In fact, the request submitted by the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime, in the case of Member of Parliament Belinda Balluku, differs from previous requests presented to the Albanian Parliament for authorization of arrest, deprivation of liberty, home search, or personal search, as it does not constitute a request for the initial imposition of a security measure,” Manja added.
Member of Parliament Manja emphasized that Parliament is being asked to replace a personal security measure, which currently applies to MP Belinda Balluku—such as the prohibition on leaving the country—with a more severe security measure, namely arrest, in relation to a criminal offense that the Special Prosecution has been investigating since August 2024.
According to Manja, the replacement of a security measure may be requested in two instances: when the security needs have intensified, or when the individual subject to a personal security measure has failed to comply with the conditions set by the court.
Manja emphasized that the mandate of the Council on Immunity and Mandates, as well as of the Parliament, is confined to providing an assessment strictly based on the materials and arguments submitted to the Council.
He further noted, “The competence of Parliament is strictly limited to verifying whether the legal conditions for authorizing the deprivation of a Member of Parliament’s personal liberty have been satisfied.”
Regarding the assessment of the request by members of the parliamentary majority, Manja stated that, based on the review of the materials presented to the Council, the criminal charge against MP Belinda Balluku has not changed and relates to the offense of violating the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions.
“There is no charge of corruption. There is no charge of obstruction of justice. This is different from what is stated in the request, but also different from what was presented today in the parliamentary minority report,” said Manja.
He said that the evidence on which the request is based is essentially the same evidence that was available to the Special Court at the time it decided on the initial personal security measure, namely the restriction on leaving the country.
Manja stated that SPAK’s request concerns replacing an existing security measure already fully complied with by MP Belinda Balluku, which was previously deemed appropriate by the competent courts (GJKKO and the Special Court of Appeals). He emphasized that the charges and evidence remain the same as those previously reviewed by the courts.
Manja noted that MP Belinda Balluku has fully adhered to her existing travel ban, no new circumstances warrant a more severe measure, and the charges remain solely related to tender violations. He advised the Assembly to reject SPAK’s request to upgrade her travel ban to either house arrest or imprisonment.
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