Responding to journalists’ questions at the year-end press conference held at the Prime Minister’s Office, Rama described the data as alarming, noting that it comes from international institutions themselves.

‘Albania ranks as the most problematic country within the Council of Europe in terms of pre-trial detention rates. This is not my assertion — the statistics have raised serious concerns with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe,” Rama stated.

The prime minister emphasized, “The Council of Europe subsequently produced an entire report on pretrial detention. For anyone who believes in the dignity of others, that report is alarming. At the end of the day, the essence of justice is that it is better to have 100 guilty people free than a single innocent person imprisoned. That is the principle of democratic justice. It is not about locking people up first and determining later whether they are guilty or not.”

According to him, there are currently 4,492 people in Albanian prisons, but only 1,895 of them have been convicted, meaning that the majority are in pretrial detention without a final court decision.

“In Albania, the probability of ending up in prison as a suspect is higher than that of ending up convicted. These are the numbers, and this is the most alarming fact,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Rama stressed that this situation runs counter to both the Albanian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, noting that numerous individuals endure extended periods of pre-trial detention, ultimately being acquitted or released due to the expiration of legally prescribed detention limits.

“In a country aspiring to join the European Union, every individual must have the right to a fair trial. Justice is not served by imprisoning people first and determining later whether they are guilty,” the head of government said.

The Prime Minister also referred to the Council of Europe’s report on security measures, emphasizing that in Albania they are often imposed without sufficient legal grounds.

“Extreme security measures are applied without concrete reasoning. Standard formulas like ‘risk of evidence tampering’ or ‘risk of flight’ are used without real proof. This is not justice,” Rama said.

He also addressed the issue of the criminal offense of “abuse of office,” emphasizing that it has been applied broadly and ambiguously, while the European Union has initiated a review of this concept.

“Justice is independent from the executive, but the executive is also independent in its decision-making. An administrative decision cannot be criminalized simply because someone disagrees with it,” the Prime Minister stated.

In conclusion, Rama noted that of the 37 cases handled by the special justice institutions, approximately 80% concern the first and second terms of his government, with only a small fraction relating to more recent years.

“These are facts, not opinions, and they reveal how misleading and harmful the narrative about Albania reaching the height of corruption is,” Rama stated.

/gj.m/j.p/ sm/