The former prosecutor was the first official worldwide to be banned by the US Secretary of State from entering the US due to allegations of corruption.[1]
In March 2018 he was at the center of investigations for suspicions of corruption. Finally,in September 2021,he was sentenced to two years in prison and confiscation of assets only for failing to declare them in full. In the same period,he fled to Italy,being arrested following an international arrest warrant issued by Tirana's Interpol in Rome in December of the same year. He has been officially granted asylum in Italy in March 2023.[2]
Biography
Background and personal life
Adriatik Llalla was born on October 9,1969,at the village of Llalla to Sulova province,Gramsh,Albania,where he was raised in middle-class family. He is the youngest of five children of Xhemal and Sanije Llalla. According to him grew up in a family persecuted by the communist regime.[3] His father,Xhemal Llalla,was sentenced in 1947 to life in prison,he was suspected as a CIA agent seeking to overthrow the communist regime,other family members were imprisoned and interned.[4]
The Llalla family in 1994 settled in the capital of Albania,Tirana. Mr.Adriatik Llalla since 1999 is married to Ardjana Llalla (Mema) together they have three children.
Education
Adriatik Llalla studied at the Faculty of Law,University of Tirana and in 1997 graduated in law. During the years 2009-2011 he completed the studies "Second level Master" for crime sciences,at the Department of Criminal Law Faculty,University of Tirana. In 2012 he received the title "Advocate" at the National Chamber of Advocacy Tirana. During the years 2014-2017 completed his doctoral studies PhD "Doctorate in Criminal Sciences",at the Department of Criminal Law,Faculty of Law,University of Tirana. He has participated in many trainings of the School of Magistrates and various conferences inside and outside the country. He is the author of several articles in various media such as declaration and audit of assets,conflict of interest and criminal field.[5]
Professional career
He started his career as a Judicial police officer in Lushnjë District Prosecutor's Office,where he worked as a prosecutor for three years. He was Prosecutor of Kavajë and Head Prosecutor of Fier until 2005. He was Deputy Head Prosecutor in Tirana from 2005 to 2008. He joined the Prosecutorial Council in 2006 and was its chairman from 2007 to 2008. In 2008,he was elected Head of the High Inspectorate of the Declaration and Audit of Assets. In 2010,he was elected Head of the Integrity Experts' Network. On 3 December 2012,he was appointed General Prosecutor of Albania under the right-wing government of Sali Berisha and with the consent of the majority of the Albanian Parliament. On 12 December 2017,Lalla's five-year term expired. On 13 February 2018,announced his resignation from Judiciary,not wishing to continue his career as a simple prosecutor [6] a move that was interpreted as an attempt to avoid the vetting process from Independent Qualifications Commission [7]
In the summer of 2016,the Prosecutor General received numerous messages containing threats against his life and that of his family. The messages (written and telephone),which came from organized crime gangs that the Prosecutor General's Office was investigating at the time,were considered serious and the Lalla family was initially placed under heavy guard. Several EU countries were willing to offer hospitality to the Lalla family,and Germany (the name of the country was kept secret for several years) was finally chosen,where his wife,in advanced pregnancy,and his two children moved permanently in the autumn of that year.[8]
Contentious issues during his term of office as Prosecutor General
On 3 December 2012,the President of Albania announced that he had selected Adriatic Lalla for the post of Prosecutor General. The selection was ratified by the Parliament of the country with 75 votes in favor (PD) while 54 MPs of the Socialist Party abstained. As soon as he took office,he immediately rehired six prosecutors previously dismissed by his PS -appointed predecessor,Ina Rama.[9]
Seizure of ILDKPKI's documents and server
On 7 November 2016,the Tirana Prosecutor's Office,following an order of the Prosecutor General,proceeded to seize dossiers and the central server of “High Inspectorate of the Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest”(ILDKPKI). The Prosecutor's Office announced the opening of an investigation into the files of ILDKPKI containing the wealth declarations of high officials accused of conflict of interest. The investigation limited during the Chief Inspector,Shkëlqim Ganaj's presidency after it was found that during that period and despite ample allegations the Authority did not indict any high-ranking officials. The judiciary in all three instances vindicated Ganaj,considering the seizure and even the examination of the file's illegal and abusive.[10][11][12] The Inspector General of ILDKPKI resorted to the judiciary in order to delegitimize the action of the Prosecutor General and indeed the Albanian courts in all three levels declared the action of the Prosecutor illegal and abusive.[13]
Socialist Party MP Erion Braçe had stated in an interview that the Attorney General's aim was to block judicial reform.[14] The same was noted by several media outlets,pointing out that the seizure occurs at a time when ILDKPKI is examining the asset declarations of judges and prosecutors that are expected to follow the adoption of the law "On the transitional re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors in the Republic of Albania."[a][16][b] Some argued that Llalla was trying to avoid checking his own assets.[12]
However,the most vocal opponent of Llalla and his intentions was the American ambassador in Tirana,Donald Lu.
Clash with the US Ambassador in Tirana
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,flanked by U.S. Ambassador to Albania Donald Lu,chats with Albanian President Bujar Nishani after arriving in Tirana,on February 14,2016
The conflict between the General Prosecutor and the US ambassador to Albania,began almost immediately after Lu's transfer to the embassy. According to Llalla's written reports to both the president of the country and the speaker of the Albanian parliament,as well as to the US Congress itself,Lou quickly went beyond the limits of his diplomatic duties and became a political actor in the country. Lou,in collaboration with organizations funded by the George Soros Foundation,tried to manipulate public opinion and officials to pressure the government and opposition to implement the reform. According to Lalla,he tried on several occasions to pressure the prosecutor to speak out publicly in favor of the reform and to encourage his subordinates to do the same. He even claimed that Lou had suggested to him that,if necessary,he should even arrest Ilir Meta,whom Lou considered to be a corrupt politician,for obstructing judicial reform.[18][19][20] The confrontation began to take public form in early February 2017,when Lu accused Llalla by name that his actions undermining efforts to clean up the judicial system.[21](...)We are already seeing powerful people try to maintain their control over the Courts and over the Prosecutors.”(...) “The most recent example of this is the action of Albania's Prosecutor General. For more than 18 months he has consistently and loudly spoken out against the Judicial Reform. In November and December,Prosecutors tried and failed to seize the HIDAACI computer servers that are vital for the vetting”-said Lu.[22][23] Llalla,who,a few days before Lou's statement,was denied a visa by the US Embassy in Tirana,[24] argued that the real reason for Lou's specific attack was the decision of the prosecution to open an investigation of environmental damages caused by Bankers Petroleum,one of the largest foreign companies operating in Albania.[24][25]
At the end of Llalla's term,there was a heated debate between the government and the opposition on whether the Prosecutor General's term should be extended because the body responsible (High Council of Prosecution) for electing a new Prosecutor General had not yet been established,or whether an interim Prosecutor General should be appointed by the government.[26] Ambassador Lu took up the cause of the interim Prosecutor and again publicly attacked Llalla,saying that:(...) The old justice system protected wealthy politicians through corruption and political influence. The new system cannot have an attorney general who does not prosecute.[27] Although the Opposition considered the solution of the interim Prosecutor General as unconstitutional and a de facto regression of judicial reform,on 18 December 2018,amid riots both inside and outside Parliament,Arta Markou was appointed provisional Prosecutor General with the 69 votes of the Socialist Party.[28]
One year after of the start of this public debate on February 14,2018,the US State Department banned Adriatik Llalla and his family from entering the USA on grounds that he was suspected of being involved in significant corruption.[29][30]
Resignation from the judiciary,prosecution
On 10 February 2018,in a letter to the President of the Republic,he announced his decision to leave the judiciary permanently. As a result,the Independent Qualification Commission (KPK) decided to discontinue its re-evaluation process,as stipulated both in the Constitution and in the relevant law no. 84/2016 "On the Transitional Re-Evaluation of Judges and Prosecutors".[31] 39 days after the KPK's decision was announced that the Public Commissioner appealed the decision. The Special Appellate College dismissed the request of Public Commissioner on 18 June 2018.[32] Four days after his resignation from Judiciary,the State Department announced its decision to ban him and his family from entering the US due to his involvement in significant corruption. The Albanian authorities responded to the State Department's complaints by opening criminal proceedings him.[33][34]
Specifically,on 15 March 2018 the Prosecution at the Court of First Instance Durres has registered criminal proceeding no. 447 registered at the charge of Adriatik Llalla for criminal offenses of "concealment of assets","abuse of duty" and "money laundering" and "failure to declare money at the borders".[35] Two months later,however,and after the Durres Prosecutor's Office was finally unable to substantiate the above charges,it declared itself incompetent - and referred the case to the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) with the indictment amended as follows:"Refusal to declare,deny,conceal or false declaration of wealth,elected private interests and public servants or any other person who has the legal obligation to declare","Non-declaration of cash amounts at the border","Cleaning of the products of criminal offense" and "Abuse of office".[34] The Serious Crimes Prosecutor's Office also contacted the Americans asking for their assistance regarding the financial expenses that Adriatik Llalla's wife,Ardiana,had in the United States during the period she stayed in America,where she gave birth to the second son of the Llalla family. The American judiciary responded by providing information which,in the opinion of the prosecution,was of little relevance to the substantiation of the charges in respect of which criminal proceedings have begun.[36]
Finally,and after the investigation period was extended as far as legally possible,on March 9,2020 former Prosecutor General has been officially taken as a defendant on charges of false declaration and concealment of property (It was about not declaring an amount which spent in Germany)[37] On September 22,2021,the anti-corruption Court of Appeals sentenced Llalla for "false declaration of assets" with 2 years in prison,seizure 2.2 hectares of agricultural land,an apartment in the city of Durrës,as well as an exemption for 5 years in the exercise of public functions. Llalla was also found guilty of unreasonable expenses of $7,000 incurred for the birth of his son in the United States.[38]
"I want to salute the Italian authorities, who granted political asylum to the Adriatic Llala, the Prosecutor General. I don't say that Llalla was a strong or flawless prosecutor, but Albanians should know that Adriatik Llalla was sanctioned for daring to denounce the companies of Soros and Rex Tillerson. That's the truth. This is with documents. Companies that do not respect the laws of the country. And as soon as he notified the US Congress of these actions, he was retaliatorily declared non grata. That's the truth."
Adriatik Llalla had never admitted the charges against him, stating that every action he took was legal and that the decision his sentence has been taken before the investigation and trial began.[40]
Following the appeal decision which confirmed the first instance decision, Lalla disappeared from Albania. SPAK issued an international arrest warrant for him on 8 October 2021. Lalla was arrested by Interpol two months later in Rome, Italy, where he had taken refuge.[41] According to his lawyer, in February 2023 the Italian authorities granted him political asylum.
Notes
↑ The vetting prοcess focuses on the re-evaluation of the country's judiciary in order to prove both their competence and their honesty. It is based on three criteria: assets, background and proficiency assessment.[15]
↑ At that time the law was suspended by the Constitutional Court following an appeal by the Democratic Party and the Judges' Union. There were reports that even within the ranks of prosecutors, the collection of signatures to oppose the law had begun.[17]
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