As his term draws to a close, Islam Abazi asks: Which DUI official have I protected?

In response to a journalist’s question on whether he considers it a failure that he will complete his term, which ends in November, without a single indictment against any DUI official, the head of the Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption, Islam Abazi, reacted with a counter-question. “Which criminal complaint against DUI officials reached the Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption but was not processed? Whom from DUI have I protected?” he said. The question was asked in light of the fact that his term had begun amid the publication of photographs with DUI leaders or people close to them.

Abazi also touched on the “Soravia” case, for which the Prosecutor’s Office had launched proceedings on its own initiative after obtaining information. In this case, Drin Ahmedi, the nephew of DUI leader Ali Ahmeti, is a suspect. For years, the case has remained in the preliminary investigation phase.

According to the data on this case, Ahmedi, together with a company from Albania, became owners of the business center without investing their own funds, using a bank loan instead. Meanwhile, bankruptcy proceedings have also been launched for “Soravia,” while Ahmedi has withdrawn from the company that owned part of this center.

As Abazi explained, the case remains in the preliminary investigation phase, and the Prosecutor’s Office had been waiting for a response to a request for international legal assistance from the United States of America. Once that response arrives, the prosecutor will assess whether a prosecutorial decision will be made or whether additional information will be sought.

Regarding the preliminary investigations that have been dragging on for a long time into the oversight of the “Bechtel & Enka” project, Abazi said the Prosecutor’s Office had issued an order for action to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and that ministry, according to him, has acted intensively. “The cases are voluminous and complex,” Abazi said.