Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha has said that amnesties should be periodic rather than annual. Speaking at a press conference, he noted that during his time in government, amnesties were approved only on landmark occasions — the centenary of independence and the 75th anniversary of liberation. “Those were the amnesties,” he said, adding that his party has never supported an annual process.

Berisha pointed out that the parliamentary majority introduced an amendment intended to terminate ongoing judicial proceedings, a proposal which was rejected by the opposition.

He stated: “Our legal experts and highly qualified practitioners determined that the statute drafted by the majority compels most of the purported beneficiaries to undergo appellate review. This effectively transforms the amnesty into a universal pecuniary sanction imposed upon convicted persons.”

According to him, this was the reason why “the Democratic Party voted for an amnesty only once, while the majority, in complete bad faith, also included individuals who had been convicted of corruption.”

He added: “Therefore, we decided not to support that law, and we did not vote for it. In fact, Edi Rama, through this, has voted in favour of crime, in favour of strongly supporting criminality. What does that mean? It means abolishing justice altogether, replacing it with popular councils that decide to imprison someone for a year and then release them. This is sheer madness — no state in the world, no serious state, would ever do such a thing. But this is not a state,” Berisha declared.

/m.m/a.f/sm/