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courage is contagious

Viewing cable 06TIRANA798, PARLIAMENT VOTES TO DISMISS PROSECUTOR GENERAL;

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TIRANA798 2006-07-28 12:58 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Tirana
VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTI #0798/01 2091258
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 281258Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4614
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 2953
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 2746
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 5322
RUEHVJ/AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 0465
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE 4144
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 2968
RUEHPS/USOFFICE PRISTINA 3449
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 3292
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2182
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L TIRANA 000798 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (DAVIS, SAINZ) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM AL
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT VOTES TO DISMISS PROSECUTOR GENERAL; 
PRESIDENT MOISIU SEEKS INTERNATIONAL COVER 
 
REF: TIRANA 740 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Marcie B. Ries, Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  As expected, Parliament approved the 
Special Investigative Committee report recommending that 
President Moisiu dismiss Prosecutor General Sollaku.  The 
ball is now in Moisiu's court.  The President is determined 
not to dismiss Sollaku, but he is seeking international cover 
for his decision to block an action taken by a majority of 
the Parliament.  Taken with other battles, this adds to the 
continued tense political atmosphere in Albania, which -- in 
addition to a standoff between the government and the 
opposition -- now includes a battle of wills between 
President and Prime Minister.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U)  On July 24, Parliament voted as expected to accept 
the majority report recommending that President Moisiu 
dismiss Prosecutor General Theodhori Sollaku.  The motion 
passed with 79 votes on a record vote.  The opposition left 
the hall prior to the vote after extensive and rancorous 
political debate with little reference to the constitutional 
and legal issues at play. 
 
3.  (C)  The issue now rests with President Moisiu, who under 
Albania's Constitution is the only authority empowered to 
dismiss the Prosecutor General (PG).  The Constitution 
provides four reasons for which the PG could be dismissed: 
violations of the Constitution, serious violations of the law 
during the exercise of his duties, mental or physical 
incapacity, or acts and behavior that seriously discredit 
prosecutorial integrity and reputation.  There is no deadline 
for the President's decision, although the opposition has 
publicly called for him to act by the end of September.  The 
government does not appear to have proven any violation that 
would meet the constitutional requirements for dismissal, 
relying in the July 24 debate more on exhortations of the 
"evil" group to which Sollaku was allegedly tied and his 
"compact with the devil" than to specific charges backed by 
evidence. 
 
4.  (C)  Moisiu recently called Council of Europe and OSCE 
representatives and asked for public support for not 
dismissing Sollaku.  Ambassador Ries has been asked to meet 
Presidential Adviser Kapllani, and we expect the request to 
be the same.  The internationals, message to the President 
has been private encouragement for his insistence on 
supporting Sollaku, but politely declining to take sides in 
what is increasingly seen as a contest of wills between Prime 
Minister and President. 
 
5.  (C)  PG Sollaku told Embassy's OPDAT adviser that 
President Moisiu had given him firm assurances of support in 
the past, but Sollaku acknowledged that Moisiu was under 
enormous political pressure.  Sollaku anticipated that Moisiu 
would seek to convene a panel of foreign and Albanian legal 
experts to offer him advice (and cover).  OPDAT contacts 
confirmed that, indeed, the President's Legal Adviser had 
asked PAMECA (the EU police assistance body) and Euralius 
(the EU judicial assistance organization) to participate in 
such a panel, to be convened toward the end of August.  Our 
contacts suggest that the EU might agree to advise the 
president privately, but would decline to be part of a public 
decision-making body. 
 
6.  (C)  Earlier in the week, Moisiu wrote an open letter to 
the Parliament decrying the resorting to name calling during 
the Parliamentary debate and calling on the Legislators to 
respect the law and the Constitution.  Most observers 
interpreted this as a slap at the DP-led majority. 
 
7.  (C)  COMMENT:  The decision over the future of PG Sollaku 
has now evolved into a public contest between the President 
and the Prime Minister.  We expect President Moisiu to be 
disappointed in his quest for public international cover for 
the action we believe he is prepared to take -- rejecting the 
call to dismiss the PG.  We do not, however, expect him to 
act before Albania's August summer vacation season.  When 
Moisiu acts, it is likely to provoke a very sharp response 
 
from the Prime Minister (and the majority in Parliament), who 
has staked considerable personal and party prestige on 
getting his way.  Taken together with heated disputes over 
the High Council of Justice, the Central Election Committee, 
and other issues large and small, this battle, with its 
personal as well as institutional elements, does not augur 
well for progress on issues requiring cooperation between 
institutions to succeed, such as electoral reform.  END 
COMMENT. 
RIES