This Thursday, the draft law on Criminal Amnesty was approved in the Assembly of Albania. 116 MPs voted for the amnesty, while only 1 MP voted against it.

The law on amnesty, which required a qualified majority, was approved with the votes of the socialist majority and the opposition of the Sali Berisha- Gazmend Bardhi group.

In today’s session, Speaker of the Parliament Lindita Nikolla announced that amendments have been submitted for this draft law by the two democratic MPs Gazment Bardhi and Enkelejd Alibeaj.

Gazment Bardhi’s amendment was approved with 111 votes in favor, while Enkelejd Alibeaj’s amendment was not approved.

As soon as the law is published in the Official Gazette, the Criminal Amnesty will grant freedom to 700 convicts. 1100 convicts and remands benefit from this law, where in addition to 700 convicts, the other 400 will benefit from a reduced sentence from 1.5 to 2 years of imprisonment.

Criminal amnesty is one of the most discussed issues, it has been filed in the Assembly since December 2023, but the disagreement between the parties caused the vote on the draft to be postponed for 3 months.

The Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja, said in his speech in the Parliament that the opposition protesters will also benefit from the amnesty, while he emphasized that the people sentenced to life imprisonment, those convicted by the Special Court on Organized Crime and Corruption and those accused of being on the run, will not benefit from the amnesty.