TIRANA, Nov. 14 /ATA/- By Maela Marini/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Saturday that a new legal package on pre-trial detention was under consultation, describing Albania’s detention practices as the most excessive in Europe.
Speaking at the Socialist Party’s National Assembly, Rama said Albania had twice as many people in pre-trial detention as Russia, where, he added, people could even be jailed for making a phone call.
“Some 63% of the people currently supported by Albanian taxpayers – and keeping someone in detention is not cheap – are awaiting trial. Absurd situations arise: detention deadlines expire and people are released without ever having stood trial,” Rama said.
He stressed that the government supported independent investigations and trials but said a balance had to be maintained with individuals’ rights and freedoms.
“This law has nothing to do with senior public figures or cases involving Special Anticorruption and Anticrime Prosecution Structure, SPAK, but concerns many ordinary people who, under the principles of democracy and Albania’s Constitution, are presumed innocent until convicted,” he said.
Rama added that foreign nationals arrested for possessing cannabis were also being held in pre-trial detention.
The government head said the coming months would be crucial for engaging with citizens, urging party members to distinguish between addressing problems and undermining what had already been achieved.
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