Former Albanian interior minister Saimir Tahiri was sentenced on Friday to three years and four months in prison for abuse of power in a drug-trafficking case, an appeals court dealing with organized crime cases has announced. and corruption.
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The former socialist minister was found guilty of
"abuse of power and of having received favours"
from those linked to drug trafficking, judge Engert Pëllumbi said.
Saimir Tahiri, who had to leave office in 2017, had escaped prison in 2019 in a first trial when he was sentenced to three years' probation.
He was then found guilty of
"abuse of power"
, but exonerated from charges relating to international drug trafficking.
His name had appeared during telephone tapping in an investigation launched after the arrest in Italy of his two cousins suspected of being traffickers and claiming to benefit from the help of the minister.
The Supreme Court had ordered a new trial for procedural error.
"It's an injustice"
“It is simply an injustice. I am calm, I have not violated the law, I am innocent,”
wrote Saimir Tahiri on his Facebook page before being taken, a few minutes after the verdict, to Tirana prison.
His lawyer, Maksim Haxhiaj, said they would appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court.
“This verdict was only meant to smear Tahiri
,” he told reporters.
Tahiri, who served as minister between 2013 and 2017, resigned in 2018 as an MP from Prime Minister Edi Rama's Socialist Party.
Albania is considered a hub for drug trafficking.
It has notably been a major producer of cannabis, intended in particular for Italy, but the authorities pride themselves on having achieved significant success in this area.
The fight against organized crime and corruption is a condition for bringing the country closer to the European Union.
A former environment minister, Lefter Koka, was arrested in December on suspicion of having pocketed several million euros in bribes.
