"With clean hands" in Italy and the presumption of innocence in Albania

2026-03-16 17:34:00, Editorial CNA

"With clean hands" in Italy and the presumption of innocence in

In a material where we listed what the new political reality, but also the activist one, demands through the head of the Supreme Court, Sokol Sadushi, (read here) , all those who talk about the principle of the presumption of innocence and express concern about Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, are perhaps demanding that the leaders of criminal organizations or arrested bandits continue to be free.

They are also presumed innocent, so here they have attacked their lawyer Ylli Manjani, the media sector for propaganda is covered by Mero Baze, there are several other scoundrels who are in the dock in courts or other characters, but they are simply scoundrels, nothing more.

Criminal lawyer: Don't arrest thieves and criminals
March 16, 11:26

Simply put, in this latest debate (attack), we are being told that, in order to respect the presumption of innocence, officials under investigation should not be arrested. This thesis is constantly repeated by Prime Minister Rama and a part of the media close to Erion Veliaj. The idea is simple: arrest is a violation of the presumption of innocence.

Presumption of innocence by Prime Minister Rama
February 26, 2:49 PM

The problem is that this thesis has little to do with how justice actually works in the European countries with which they are compared on the airwaves. The examples they find have no comparative connection to Erion Veliaj, moreover they also mix up the case of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, the latter with charges of violating equality in tenders in several cases, while Veliaj with 13 charges, of which 9 for corruption, as well as charges of laundering the proceeds of a criminal offense, introducing prohibited items into the penitentiary, failure to declare assets and abuse of office.

The 'Veliaj' scandal, the 13 accusations that speak for themselves
February 21, 18:42

Italy as an example

Let's take the case of Italy during the historic anti-corruption operation, Mani Pulite in the 1990s, the investigations led by prosecutors like Antonio Di Pietro led to one of the biggest crackdowns on political corruption in Europe. There is ample material about this operation, which remains unique in its kind, in the main Italian media, as well as important studies, publications and lectures in several different faculties in universities around the world.

"With clean hands" in Italy and the presumption of innocence in

Prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro

Let us give as an example the figures, which are very significant: around 12,000 people were investigated for corruption; over 5,000 people were arrested during the investigations; at the height of the operation there were around 3,000 suspects in custody, among them ministers, MPs and powerful businessmen; over 1,200 criminal convictions resulted from these processes.

So thousands of politicians and officials remained in custody during the investigations. And no one said that this violated the presumption of innocence. Why? Because detention has nothing to do with finding someone guilty. It is a security measure, used when there is a risk that the suspect will manipulate evidence, influence witnesses or coordinate with other people involved in the scheme, or flee.

Even when Silvio Berlusconi's government attempted in 1994 to limit detention for corruption, the public and institutional reaction in Italy was so strong that the measure was quickly withdrawn. Because it was considered an attempt to save the political class from investigations.

Therefore, the dilemma is not the presumption of innocence. It is always respected until the final decision of the court.

The real dilemma is different: Should justice have the means to prevent evidence manipulation and influence on witnesses, or should it remain passive until the files are destroyed and the evidence disappears? The “Veliaj” case has both the influence on witnesses, but also the destruction of evidence. The Klotilda Bushka case is sufficient as an explanation. The Chairperson of the Laws Commission would go to the Ombudsman’s office and call a witness to the case, or someone’s phone would be taken away and changed.

Bushka used the Ombudsman's office to pressure the witness
February 12, 10:45

The story of SPAK and the fight against corruption in Albania has just begun. But if we were to follow the logic being served to us in recent debates, perhaps the simplest solution would be to declare that the presumption of innocence means that no one important should ever be arrested. Especially if he is the mayor of Tirana, because there is no one to do the job.

By Elvi Fundo/ "Arrest the people, release Veliaj"
February 10, 16:52

It would be a very comfortable theory for the government and its servants in the justice system, down to the partisans in the Supreme Court or the hostages in the Constitutional Court.