Berisha’s obsession: Investigating SPAK instead of being investigated

Sali Berisha seems to have an uncontrollable urge to insert himself into every major criminal incident in Albania, alternating between playing investigator and spreading unverified claims.

Last week, following the tragic murder of a teenager by a classmate—a case quickly resolved thanks to numerous eyewitnesses and CCTV footage—Berisha managed to shift public focus onto himself. Upon learning that another young man present at the scene was the son of a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) employee, Berisha claimed the boy was a co-perpetrator being shielded by his father’s influence.

In reality, the father, upon discovering his son’s presence at the incident, immediately took him to the police, where the boy was questioned for 12 hours. This responsible act contrasts sharply with Berisha’s own actions when his son was implicated in the 2008 Gerdec explosion that killed 26 people. Instead of cooperating with investigators, Berisha waged war against Albania’s justice institutions to protect his son—an approach that ultimately failed, as the investigation has resumed 15 years later.

Berisha’s hostility toward Albania’s Special Prosecution against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), which reopened the Gerdec case, has since escalated into a smear campaign. Recently, he exploited a high-profile murder to attack SPAK, falsely accusing one of its prosecutors of releasing the suspect from jail. Berisha’s claim was based on intercepted gang conversations made public by SPAK but fell apart when the institution proved that his allegations were false. Even after retracting his statement, Berisha continued attacking SPAK, a desperate attempt to confuse public opinion and undermine its credibility.

This pattern of baseless accusations highlights Berisha’s frustration. Unable to link SPAK to organized crime, he persistently seeks to discredit the institution, likely to justify his so-called “anti-SPAK revolution.” Berisha seizes on every crime—solved or unsolved—as an opportunity to implicate SPAK, portraying it as a criminal enabler rather than an investigative body.

Berisha’s obsession with SPAK mirrors his previous fixation on Lulzim Basha during 2021–2023. Back then, he blamed Basha for every misfortune after being expelled from the Democratic Party following his designation as non grata by the U.S. State Department. Today, Berisha directs similar hostility toward SPAK. His attacks, paired with Ilir Meta’s public “revolts” against the institution, create the false impression of SPAK as an adversary of the opposition. In reality, SPAK is simply fulfilling its duty—one that includes investigating Berisha and Meta.

Berisha’s behavior is not new. After the January 21, 2011, killings of four protesters during his tenure as prime minister, he created a parliamentary inquiry to target the then-Chief Prosecutor, attempting to derail investigations into the tragedy. Now, more than a decade later, SPAK is probing Berisha’s role in those events as well.

This is why Berisha seems to wake up every morning behaving as though it is his personal mission to investigate SPAK. He displayed the same approach following the tragic killing of four protesters on January 21, 2011, during his tenure as prime minister. At that time, he formed a parliamentary inquiry committee to investigate the Chief Prosecutor, aiming to divert attention and prevent a proper investigation into the incident. Now, albeit belatedly, SPAK is investigating Berisha's role in that tragedy as well.

The article initially appeared in Albanian titled: "Pasioni i Berishës për një “SPAK paralel” që heton SPAK-un"