The U.S. saw before us the core flaw in SPAK and Albania’s new judiciary

The U.S. Department of State’s 2024 human rights report on Albania has directly challenged key practices of SPAK and the new judiciary, particularly regarding two areas: pre-trial detentions and questioning suspects without their lawyers.

The report highlights concerns over prolonged pre-trial detentions without charges and significant delays in criminal proceedings. Taken together, these concerns strike at the core of SPAK’s work, which relies heavily on such detentions, repeated extensions of investigation deadlines, and pressuring suspects during questioning.

The findings are based on data from Albanian prisons, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and SPAK itself. In 2024, this process claimed high-profile victims such as former President and Prime Minister Ilir Meta, who was detained without charges, and Sali Berisha. The report also notes the investigation—allegedly through blackmail—of a network tied to Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, along with his family, who claim SPAK used intimidation and questioned them without legal representation.

The practice of endlessly extending investigations is also seen in the cases of Ilir Meta and Arben Ahmetaj. Meanwhile, countless ordinary citizens without resources or proper legal defense have been subjected to similar treatment by regional prosecutors. The common thread between SPAK and the General Prosecution is the systematic disregard for human rights and Albanian law in investigation and detention practices.

Two main factors explain this situation. First, the unconditional political and public support for the Justice Reform, which prosecutors have exploited for personal revenge or motivated by political feuds. Second, the issue is not a shortage of resources, but a striking lack of competence. Many high-profile corruption cases collapse into speculative, poorly constructed investigations, unable to connect evidence to charges. This reflects professional incapacity rather than understaffing. Albania has enough prosecutors—but they have passed vetting and now operate without proper oversight, aided by the failure of the High Institute of Justice.

That the State Department’s 2024 report regarding human rights in Albania addresses these issues—taboo in our country because any criticism is painted as an attack on the new judiciary—shows that the U.S. has recognized SPAK’s central flaw: ignoring human rights during investigations, and masking incompetence with arrogance and intimidation.

This undermines the myth of SPAK as a highly professional institution. The report’s criticism strikes at its core mission: to win cases within the bounds of the law. Outside those rules, Albania has already known prosecutors—under communism—who persecuted first and found evidence later. SPAK was supposed to work the other way: gather facts, then file charges. Yet, unable to meet that standard, SPAK’s prosecutors appear to have chosen to imitate the very practices the new judiciary was meant to replace.

The article initially appeared in Albanian titled: "SHBA ka konstatuar para nesh defektin themelor të SPAK dhe drejtësisë së re në Shqipëri"