Allegations of electoral corruption in Albania have raised concerns about the effectiveness of anti-corruption efforts. Alfred Beleri, a mayoral candidate, faced accusations of vote-buying during the May 14 elections. Investigations by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution (SPAK) led to Beleri’s arrest, although he denied the charges. SPAK received 31 electoral corruption-related complaints in 2023, but only a few resulted in action. Experts suggest greater collaboration between law enforcement agencies and quicker responses are needed to combat electoral corruption effectively. Some argue that SPAK alone may not be sufficient, emphasizing the role of local prosecutors and police
Author: Bleona Metushi
“Pandeli Kokaveshi told me that out of the four people on the list I had given Alfred Beleri, he had captured four of them, leaving eight from the list,” Arsen Rama, a citizen from Himara, told investigators in Vlorë. He reported that the electoral headquarters of the mayoral candidate was paying money to secure votes in the May 14 elections.
The investigations initiated after this denunciation led to the arrest of Alfred Beleri, whom the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK), an agency investigating corruption at high levels, accuses of paying between 5,000 to 20,000 lekë for a vote.
Beleri was elected mayor of Himara while in custody and continuously denied the accusations, considering the process against him politically motivated. However, according to the prosecution, the elected mayor of Himara was monitored and wiretapped in his daily activities during meetings with citizen Arsen Rama, who became a collaborator with justice.
According to SPAK, the results of these meetings produced evidence against him. While the guilt or innocence of Alfred Beleri remains to be proven in court, the investigation by the Vlorë Prosecutor’s Office was the only one in these elections that resulted in the arrest of a mayoral candidate.
“SPAK, besides cases of arrests by the police of individuals caught red-handed with voter lists and money, received 31 criminal reports for suspected electoral corruption in 2023, of which in 16 cases, it registered criminal proceedings without specific names. In 6 other cases, the Special Prosecutor’s Office decided not to initiate investigations, according to the official response SPAK provided to INA Media.
“For one case, SPAK requested the court’s dismissal, and for three others, it sought trial.”
In 2021, the first year when SPAK investigated electoral corruption, the number of reports was higher at 46, likely due to increased trust from political entities. However, the number of investigations that yielded results remained the same: seven were dismissed, one was declared outside of SPAK’s competence. Of those further investigated, six cases were dismissed, and only three proceeded to trial.
During the partial local elections of 2022 in 5 municipalities, only two reports were registered with SPAK, leading to investigations. Among the cases concluded this year, three requests for dismissal and three for trial were carried over from 2021.
Throughout these years, according to official data, the Special Prosecutor’s Office registered only 2 criminal proceedings without reports or referrals from the police: one in 2021 and another in 2022. Despite numerous reports and investigations initiated by SPAK, no concrete results have emerged.
Since 2021, the Special Prosecutor’s Office has found 7 individuals guilty of electoral corruption, with several cases still under investigation. Meanwhile, the State Police referred to only four cases in 2021, one in 2022, and one this year.”
Electoral corruption through complaints
Before the parliamentary elections of 2021, the Democratic Party reported the government to SPAK, alleging an attempt to buy votes for the December local elections through public investments. The Council of Ministers had made 16 decisions for the reconstruction of several cities damaged by the November 2019 earthquake.
“It appears that during the restricted period, according to predictions and acts regulating elections, several acts were approved, actually offering benefits to specific population categories,” SPAK acknowledges in its decision not to initiate investigations into the complaint made by the Democratic Party. The latter raised suspicions that the 16 Council of Ministers’ decisions for multimillion-dollar funding for reconstruction in several earthquake-affected cities on November 1, 2019, were made to maximize the Socialist Party’s votes in the local elections a month later.
However, even though they acknowledge these were issued during the election-restricted period, SPAK justifies the allocation of those funds with the natural disaster declared in 2019. SPAK states that at worst, these constitute administrative violations rather than criminal ones, which should be addressed by the Central Election Commission.”\
Jordan Daci, a lawyer commenting on legal and political developments, criticizes SPAK, stating that it made a mistake by balancing the need for reconstruction against the need for unexpected elections. “Elections should have had priority over reconstruction,” says, “because the country was no longer in an exceptional state.”
The reconstruction was not at such an urgent stage that it could allow interference in the electoral process.”
Two years later, in another case reported by the opposition, SPAK declared it impossible to “verify the truthfulness of the report of ‘Active Corruption in Elections,’ as well as the presence of elements of the criminal act of ‘Illegal Acquisition or Use of Identification Means.'”
This case involved allegations of vote interference reported to SPAK by the Democratic Party in the Pustec area near Lake Prespa, where the Macedonian minority resides in Albania.
According to the Democratic Party, the deputy mayor of Pustec had collected identity cards from several residents, claiming to assist them in obtaining Bulgarian citizenship. However, the Democratic Party stated that the acquisition of identity cards was illegal and that the cards were taken to exert pressure on residents to vote for the Socialist Party in the upcoming general elections that summer.
The effectiveness of complaints
Lawyer Eugen Beçi mentions that combating corruption is easier when it happens in real-time, requiring a more active role from law enforcement agencies. “Corruption is a criminal act that must be followed in real-time,” says Beçi. “When the act occurs, it becomes clearer and easier to prove. However, corruption through the verification of influence by acts or administrative actions to buy votes can also be a form of proving this crime.”
The lack of swift investigative actions, according to Indrit Sefa, a lawyer with the Democratic Party, led to SPAK’s lack of success in investigating complaints. According to him, numerous complaints from the Democratic Party weren’t finalized by SPAK because their investigation required swift investigative actions.
“The lack of such a reaction at the right time made it impossible for SPAK to evidence elements of criminal acts in elections,” says Sefa. He adds that for a significant number of complaints, SPAK declared “non-jurisdictional competence” or a lack of jurisdiction because it investigates only cases of vote buying and the use of public resources.
INA Media analyzed dozens of decisions to cease investigations and declarations of non-competence by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for complaints made between 2021-2023. In most cases, decisions to cease investigations aren’t appealed by either party in the process, while suspicions of election corruption and vote manipulation have led to imprisonments among pre-trial detainees.
In 2021, SPAK also investigated the case of Ilir Berberi, known as the “strongman” of Pogradec, who is currently under arrest. The Internal Prison Control Service suspected Berberi of distributing mobile phone cards as bribes to secure votes for a political subject while his son, Firdeus Berberi, who was wanted in Albania, campaigned in the 2021 elections.
The Judicial Police verified that Berberi had purchased 14 mobile phone cards in a single day, exchanged with other pre-trial detainees. However, since some of these detainees were not listed as voters, the prosecution did not suspect vote buying.
Should it be SPAK that only investigates these issues?
“SPAK should not be the institution solely responsible for investigating these criminal acts,” says lawyer Elis Bilali. Due to the need for swift on-site action during the short period around elections, “the competence to investigate should fall within the jurisdiction of regional prosecutor’s offices,” he says. According to Bilali, SPAK should only handle cases involving high-ranking officials.
Moreover, the police should play a more fundamental role. “There should be close and efficient cooperation between police structures, which are on the ground and have the logistics for gathering information, and regional prosecutor’s offices,” says Bilali. “So, more than the prosecutor’s offices, it’s primarily the exclusive competence and will of the police.”
However, this aspect raises concerns. Politics within the police force exercises what he calls “unlawful influence,” which damages the discoveries of cases caught red-handed.
“Electoral crimes occur in a short time frame and have high intensity,” says Sefa, a lawyer who complained about the sluggishness of investigations. “Maximum engagement of all structures is needed, including the National Bureau of Investigation, police structures, and intelligence, which must closely collaborate with SPAK to uncover and prevent these crimes before they affect the electoral process.”
The scope and depth of the phenomenon emerged from wiretaps conducted by the Serious Crimes Prosecutor’s Office in 2016, which were widely publicized in the media three years later.
The case involved election interference in the Dibra area. The district court issued low sentences or, in some cases, dismissed the cases because, according to them, the statutory limitation period had passed, preventing criminal punishment.
Random wiretaps again captured instances of election corruption in 2021 and 2023. Conversations of Kristi Çollaku were being wiretapped by the Special Prosecutor’s Office due to his connections with individuals suspected of a murder in Elbasan. In 2021, this city’s prosecutor wiretapped his phone conversations during local elections.
“Come to me, let’s go vote for one and we’ll treat you well,” he said to someone. “But to give it, I have… I got a guarantee,” the other interlocutor replied, with the conversation continuing with a promise of a sum of 30,000 lekë. “Don’t forget to give it to Gledjon… hey,” another interlocutor is heard saying on the phone.
In Kavajë, during the May 14 elections, citizen Klodian Kapidani, according to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, was caught in several wiretapped conversations initially conducted by the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office, discussing securing votes. The revealed wiretaps show Kapidani’s concern that the individuals who received money might not go to vote.
“Alright, wait there, just look at it for me, please, because I’ve paid them,” he tells someone, while in another conversation, a citizen asks for 1 million lekë for 5 votes.
Although wiretaps have aided authorities in tackling cases of electoral corruption and investigations conducted during these corrupt acts, lawyer Ermal Yzeriaj considers it impossible for this to be solely undertaken by SPAK.
“Wiretaps are effective, but it’s a massive task that firstly requires broad outreach and secondly, the involvement of all subjects, to avoid the risk of raising suspicions and accusations being one-sided,” said Yzeriaj. He also added that this task requires numerous human resources and dedicated time, which SPAK lacks due to its workload.
The head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, Altin Dumani, until the publication of this article, did not respond to questions regarding the lack of investigations, mainly by SPAK, or whether there was a need for legal changes to effectively combat electoral corruption. However, in an informal meeting with journalists, he stated that there was no need to change the legal framework.
“Decisions to cease investigations have not been appealed,” Dumani said during that meeting, adding that “the quality of complaints is weak and not based on fact.”
Ky shkrim është pjesë e projektit që mbështetet financiarisht nga Zyra e Mardhënieve me Publikun e Ambasadës së SH.B.A. në Tiranë. Opinionet, gjetjet, konkluzionet dhe rekomandimet e shprehura janë te autor-it/ve dhe nuk përfaqesojnë domosdoshmërisht ato të Departamentit të Shtetit. / This article is part of a project that is financially supported by the Public Relations Office of the US Embassy in Tirana. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Department of State.