By Boldnews.al
For several hours, the State Police has been “informally” distributing in the media that it is anticipating to arrest MP Gent Strazimiri, who, according to blue uniforms, has been equipped with illegal weapons in the violent clash between special forces and protesters in the Artificial Lake area, on Monday, March 28, 2016.
Apparently, this is an efficient way to avoid public attention from the real problem of this protest, organized for weeks by Civil Society and recently supported by the right-wing opposition.
The police said in the media “not officially” that they are looking at the legal possibilities for arresting deputy Strazimiri for “illegal possession of weapons of war”. According to the same sources, according to the new law “On Weapons,” the MP should not have a gun. For this reason, the “unofficial” sources from the Ministry of Interior say to the main media that they are considering the opportunity to ask the General Prosecutor’s Office authorization for the arrest of the deputy Strazimiri in flagrance.
“Boldnews.al” contacted official sources of State Police, who refused to comment on this issue. While, for lawyers, the situation is easily clear that, based on what has been published so far, can not be charged with criminal responsibility MP.
For lawyer, State Police in cases of flagrancy must act promptly and there is no reason to request the authority of the Prosecutor’s Office to execute the arrests. The Constitution of the Republic of Albania, in Article 73/3, provides for cases of arrest of deputies. The same practice was implemented a few months ago, with the armed arrest of MP Armando Prenga.
Also, the Police can not suggest to the Prosecutor’s Office to request from the Parliament of Albania the removal of the deputy mandate. Under the constitutional amendments of 2012, MPs do not have immunity in criminal prosecution cases.
As far as the concrete case is concerned, the police have a duty to prove that the object held by the Strazimiri MP is the pistol. Also, in order to carry out the arrest in flagrante, the supposed weapon that was in the possession of the deputy should be seized at the moment of the incident. So, as above, legally lost the reasons for flagrancy, as police forces, despite the large number during the protest, did not provide enough evidence to spot the fact that MP Strazimir had been equipped with a pistol.
On the other hand, the “unofficial” sources of the Police say that the weapon that the deputy Strazimiri had (considering that the object owned by the deputy was a pistol) is without permission. This conclusion is supported by a memo of Tirana Police Station No. 3, dated March 17, 2016, addressed to the deputy Gent Strazimiri, requesting him to surrender his weapon with permission by 25 March 2016. According to theletter of the Police , according to the amendments to the law “On Weapons”, MPs no longer have the right to equip weapons.
Here is the beginning of the engagement of the “unofficial sources” of the Police for the possible arrest of the deputy Strazimiri. He was in the protest on March 28, equipped with an object that looks like a pistol, while he had to have handed it over 3 days ago, on date 25. So the MP for the “unofficial” sources of the State Police should arrested for “unarmed possession of combat arms”.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party, through the Secretary-General, Arben Ristani, said that the device in theband of deputy Strazimiri was a mobile phone case and was not a pistol.
Likewise, the deputy Strazimiri expressed in the media that he did not receive a letter from the State Police for handing over the gun, as it has recently been in the United States.
So even if the fact that a deputy has had weapons during the protest, it must be confirmed whether he has officially become aware of the fact that he should hand over the pistol which he had until then possessed the permission of the respective authorities.
