Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation are reported to have gone to the premises of the Albanian Parliament to seize documents and correspondence of the institutions, regarding the salaries of the judges and prosecutors of the Republic.
Today’s seizures, as previously reported, come a week after the complaint that judges and prosecutors filed with the Special Prosecution Office regarding the non-implementation of the Constitutional Court’s decision.
In addition to the Albanian Parliament, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation have also been in the Ministry of Finance.
The presidents of 18 courts and the two associations representing judges took the conflict over the blocking of salaries to SPAK, accusing Minister Petrit Malaj and 15 Treasury officials of abuse of office and obstruction of the execution of the court decision.
“This complaint does not aim to replace administrative, judicial or institutional means to resolve disputes regarding the method of calculating salaries, nor to exert pressure on any state institution for a certain financial result.”
“Its purpose is solely the criminal investigation of the legality of the concrete actions or omissions that have led to the non-payment of salaries and the determination of individual responsibility according to the law,” the complaint obtained by BIRN was quoted as saying.
Two weeks ago, the government blocked the salaries of judges, prosecutors and employees of the administration of justice institutions, after the payment lists were sent based on the decisions of the High Judicial Council and the High Prosecutorial Council, which established the calculation of salaries for September in accordance with the decision taken on February 17 by the Constitutional Court.
After finding that the Assembly delayed the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s decision, the two Councils assessed that the decision was binding and determined the increase with a reference basic salary of 222 thousand lek and 14 thousand lek for the qualification supplement. According to the Councils, the salary increase was to start from August 1.
It was also decided to compensate for the hidden salary reduction implemented under the previous law repealed in February by the Constitutional Court.
The complaint signed by the court presidents requests the initiation of investigations against Minister Malaj, the Treasury Director, Gentian Këri, and 14 other officials for the criminal offenses of abuse of office and obstruction of the execution of court decisions.