VZCZCXRO8630
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0412/01 1541026
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 021026Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7134
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000412 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE 
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR ICITAP, OPDAT 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PREL PGOV AL
SUBJECT:  WEAK SENTENCES IN HIGH PROFILE ALBANIAN CORRUPTION TRIAL 
 
REF:  May 5, 2008 Tirana DAR 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (SBU) Albanian justice is off to a slow start in fighting the 
country's endemic corruption.  On May 19, the Tirana District Court 
sentenced Nikolin Jaka, former Deputy Minister of Transportation, to 
19 months in prison and Ilirjan Berzani, the former General Director 
of Roads, to three years in prison following their convictions in a 
high-profile corruption scheme dating from July 2007.  Both Jaka and 
Berzani were imprisoned after their arrests in September 2007. 
Three other government officials and two businessmen were also found 
guilty and sentenced to similar prison terms.  This prosecution case 
represents the first criminal conviction of a senior politically 
appointed government official since Prime Minister Sali Berisha 
assumed power in 2005 after campaigning on an anti-corruption 
platform.  Although the arrests were trumpeted as a victory in the 
fight against corruption, the lenient sentences handed down raise 
doubts whether the punishment fits the crime.  In the eyes of 
average Albanians, this case reinforces the perception that crime in 
Albania actually does pay. 
 
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Corruption Scheme Gone Wrong 
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¶2.  (U) On September 18, 2007, following a two-month investigation 
spearheaded by the Albanian State Police, law enforcement 
authorities arrested the Deputy Minister of Transportation, Nikolin 
Jaka, the General Director of Roads, Ilirjan Berzani, three other 
senior officials from the Department of Roads and two businessmen on 
charges of being part of an organized corruption scheme that awarded 
road tenders to pre-assigned companies in exchange for bribes.  The 
police investigation revealed that in July 2007, Road Director 
Berzani met at the premises of the Triss Construction Company with a 
number of construction businessmen to reach an agreement over the 
allocation of upcoming road tenders.  Berzani and the companies 
agreed that companies would bid and win certain tenders in return 
for the remaining companies winning future tenders.  By eliminating 
competition, high bids would not be undercut and the overall amounts 
awarded would be greater, thus ensuring more money for the companies 
and bigger bribes for the officials. 
 
¶3.  (U) To put the corruption scheme in context, the Albanian 
Department of Roads manages a budget of approximately USD 730 
million annually, which equates to nearly 50 percent of the total 
funds available for investment by the GOA.  Prosecutors suspected 
that in return for awarding a single tender, a payment of USD 
150,000 was made to Berzani.  Despite the initial agreement 
regarding the first two tenders, several companies backed out and 
entered the competition process.  Following a tip-off by one of the 
businessmen involved, the police began an investigation which 
included wiretaps on several members of the group.  The wiretap 
evidence documented attempts by Deputy Minister Jaka and Director 
Berzani to urge several companies to stay out of the competition on 
the agreed tenders in order to ensure that the pre-assigned 
companies would win. 
 
¶4. (U) In September 2007, the audit office within the Ministry of 
Transportation discovered many irregularities in the tenders and 
ordered the tender process halted until an audit was complete. 
Fearing that the officials, whose scheme was not uncovered by their 
own ministry auditors, would flee the country, prosecutors obtained 
arrest warrants for the officials. 
 
¶5.  (U) Although initial reports by the police indicated that the 
evidence was sufficient to prove charges of corruption, the 
investigation did not succeed in bringing serious charges that would 
ensure a punishment that was commensurate with the gravity of the 
criminal offense originally made.  Jaka was initially arrested for a 
crime committed during the exercise of his official office, but was 
only charged with exercising unlawful influence on public officials, 
a criminal offense generally applicable to regular citizens rather 
than state officials.  The latter charge carries a maximum penalty 
of four years rather than the eight-year term applicable to the 
former.  According to prosecutors, although Jaka pressured Berzani 
and others to obtain bribes relating to the tender of road 
contracts, Jaka was not acting in the exercise of his official 
duties, a necessary element for proving the crime of passive 
corruption.  The prosecutors also claimed they lacked the evidence 
necessary to charge the officials for being part of a "structured 
criminal group," which would have added a five-year sentence to the 
terms of each of the defendants found guilty. 
 
¶6. (U) Upon the conclusion of the trial, Jaka only received a 
19-month sentence and a fine of USD 15,000.  He was released on May 
 
TIRANA 00000412  002 OF 002 
 
 
30, based on time already served.  (Time served under pre-trial 
detention counts as 1.5 days for each day served.)  The court also 
prohibited Jaka from exercising any public functions for a period of 
three years.  Berzani received the longest sentence; three years in 
prison and a fine of USD 30,000 with a prohibition from exercising 
public functions for five years.  With the exception of the two 
indicted businessmen, the leaders of the other companies who took 
part in the illegal deal-making were never charged or sanctioned for 
their involvement in the scheme.  It is unclear whether the 
prosecutors will appeal the sentences. 
 
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But In Albania, It Is Always About Politics 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) The arrests came at a time when Prime Minister Berisha was 
engaged in a battle to remove former Prosecutor General Sollaku from 
office.   Most of the officials arrested in this case were members 
of the Christian Democratic Party (PDK), a junior coalition partner 
in the Government coalition which had often publicly disagreed with 
the Prime Minister.  While many Albanians welcomed the arrests, 
others criticized the Government for undertaking selected attacks 
aimed at exerting pressure on unruly coalition partners rather than 
actually fighting corruption.  Caught in a difficult political 
position, the head of the PDK, Health Minister Nard Ndoka, failed to 
distance his party from the arrested officials.  Ndoka publicly 
charged that the case was politically motivated and that the 
officials were unfairly targeted. 
 
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Comment 
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¶8.  (SBU) The detention and sentencing of a former Deputy Minister 
is a positive development in a country where corrupt senior 
officials have consistently escaped criminal punishment.  (The 
conviction of the Ministry of Labor Secretary General reported Ref 
differed as a Secretary General is not technically a political 
appointee or member of government.  That sentence, however, was a 
more credible one.)   The lenient sentences handed down in this case 
reinforce the public perception that the Government is not serious 
in its fight against public corruption.  This perception was noted 
in a recent opinion piece in a leading Albanian daily newspaper: 
"At a time when American taxpayers keep pouring money to help 
Albania, [this trial] showed again that theft is a worthwhile 
activity for our officials.  It is worth doing a bit of time in 
prison in exchange for ensuring the wealth of your descendants for 
up to three generations."   While such statements do not take into 
consideration the technical aspects of the case, this sentiment does 
reflect a commonly held opinion of many citizens.  The lenient 
sentences have reinforced the perception that political connections 
and money still protect officials from the fair application of the 
law.  The great fanfare of the arrests followed by the letdown of 
the reduced sentences highlights the continuing communication 
problems between police and prosecutors and the failure of the 
judicial system to effectively prosecute senior officials.  The 
handling of evidence presented in the case, which consisted mainly 
of intercepted phone calls between the defendants, also reveals the 
need for additional training for prosecutors and judicial police 
officers. 
 
WITHERS