The Council of Mandates of the Albanian Parliament voted on Monday in favor of the request of the Special Prosecution Office of Albania (SPAK) to lift the immunity of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Prosecutors had asked lawmakers last week to lift Berisha’s parliamentary immunity because he had not complied with the order to report to SPAK every two weeks and not leave the country while under investigation for corruption.
In a meeting that lasted more than four hours, with opposition protesters gathering outside the Parliament building to oppose such a move, six members of the Council, including one from the opposition, voted on Monday to bring Berisha’s immunity to a parliamentary vote on Thursday.
The Parliament is expected to vote on Thursday to allow prosecutors to place Berisha under house arrest.
During Monday’s meeting, Berisha was represented by his lawyers, stating that he could not accept “such public humiliation of the most important institution in the country” but joined the protest he himself had called in front of the Parliament.
Berisha said the protest is not related to SPAK’s request for his arrest but “with the fact that the majority has denied the opposition its right to form several investigative commissions”.
The protest proceeded peacefully, with hundreds of police forces engaged to secure the area around the building where the Council meeting was taking place.
Berisha called on protesters to gather in front of the Parliament on Thursday when the vote for the removal of his immunity will take place.
The Socialist Party holds 74 seats out of a total of 140 in the Albanian Parliament, enough to pass the law without the support of other parties.
In October, SPAK announced that Berisha is accused of corruption in a case along with his son-in-law, Jamarbër Malltezi, related to the illegal privatization of the Partizani sports complex.
The “Partizani” sports complex, covering an area of 26 thousand square meters, was privatized in 2008 and was previously owned by the Ministry of Defense.
Berisha has denied the accusations and criticized SPAK prosecutors on Monday, referring to them as “mercenaries” of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
