"Gërdeci"/ BIRN: The protracted trial against Fatmir Mediu continues with postponement

During the last three sessions, from the moment when the request of the former Minister of Defense, Fatmir Mediu, for the removal of the summary judgment was accepted, the parties in the process brought against him for the responsibility in the tragic event of Gërdec have presented the requests for the summoning of hundreds of witnesses , which continues to bring postponement with the argument that they should be familiar with the research in order to take positions and for the court to make a decision regarding them.

The session scheduled for Friday, September 29, in the case of the former Minister of Defense, Fatmir Mediu, was postponed again. His legal representative, lawyer Henrik Ligori, presented his stance on the list of witnesses requested by the prosecution to be called in the process and emphasized that they were sticking to almost all the requests for calling the witnesses listed in the session on Friday, September 8.

Then Ligori listed a long list of people who wanted to be questioned as witnesses, among them dozens of foreign and Albanian military personalities; former ministry and former head of law enforcement institutions; they asked to call experts and analyze the footage of the explosion in Gërdec.

The special prosecutors then requested time to review the requests of Mediu's defense attorneys, as well as to present their list of witnesses and evidence, which they presented at the September 22 hearing. The Special Prosecutor's Office asked to question 52 people as witnesses, among them Shkëlzen Berisha, the son of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha at the time when the Gërdec tragedy occurred.

Even that session was postponed to give the defendant's defenders the opportunity to take a stand, which was presented by lawyer Ligori in the session on Friday, September 29, when he said that the searches are almost the same as those presented before.

Ligori observed that some of the officials who carried out the dismantling were declared innocent and according to him, it was not appropriate for Mediu to be accused of abuse of office for that event. Based on the fact that SPAK has also requested the questioning of Mediu in Court, Ligori said that it would be better for him to ask the questions from them and not from the prosecutors.

Next, the legal representative of the victims and their families, lawyer Dorian Matlija, presented his position, who stated that about 25 witnesses called by the prosecution are victims and that they had nothing to do with the demolition process, as they did not work there. According to him, in these conditions they cannot know and show the circumstances regarding what happened.

Matlija theksoi se personalitetet e huaja të kërkuara nga mbrojtja, që nuk kishin të bënin me akuzën e ngritur nga prokuroria, ishte e panevosjhme të thërriteshin si dëshmitarë. “Thirrja e këtyre personave që nuk kanë lidhje me ngjarjen, thjesht do të zvarriste procesin”, pohoi Matlija dhe shtoi se prokuroria e ka ngritur akuzën lidhur me përgjegjësit që krijuan kushtet të rrezikshme për procesin e demontimit në Gërdec.

Ai dorëzoi dhe një listë për 12 dëshmitarë që kërkoi të pyeten, për disa prej të cilëve tha se janë dhe në listat e dorëzuara nga palët.

Avokati i Mediut mbajti qëndrim ndaj kërkimeve të Matlijas, duke u shprehur se është nevoja për t’u hetuar në thellësi. Sipas Ligorit, nuk është në funksion të drejtësisë një proces i shpejtë. Ai këmbënguli se personalitetet dhe ekspertët e huaj kanë pasur bashkëpunim të ngushtë në procesin e demontimit të armëve dhe municioneve në Shqipëri.

Në përfundim, gjyqtarja Irena Gjoka vendosi të shtyjë seancën për më datë 3 tetor, në orën 15:00, me argumentin që të njihej me provat dhe kërkimet e palëve, si dhe që përfaqësuesi i viktimave, avokati Dorian Matlija të njihej me kërkimet e mbrojtësve të Mediut.

The reopening of the case against Mediu was initiated after 12 years by the initiative of the family of one of the victims of the explosion in March 2008 in the premises of the former "Tank Brigade", with 26 lives lost and hundreds injured. According to the petitioners and SPAK, after the legal changes of 2012 and 2017, the deputy no longer has parliamentary immunity for criminal prosecution or his trial and therefore there is no obstacle for the Mediu investigation./ BIRN