A Euronews Albania documentary explores the mafia killings that are rocking the country, the difficulty of institutions to prevent or then detect these murders, but above all the connection that these killings have with business and politics.
Only in the last week, there have been two mafia murders on Albanian kind, one in midday in the area where there is more movement and one of the most protected in Tirana, and the other happened yesterday in front of the Court of Appeals in the city of Vlora.
But even 2020 has not been a good year in the success against organized crime. Dozens of criminal events have been recorded despite a year of pandemics.
"Of course, 2020 has been a very difficult year. There has been a decrease and it is true that in one year there have been about 450 criminal offenses. As for the load that the police had to carry on their shoulders, it was very large, this is also a consequence of the pandemic,"- declares the director of the Tirana Police, Rebani Jaupi.
It is disturbing of how such executions continue to be carried out without the slightest hesitation of the perpetrators even though the circumstances or the number of those who can see the scene do not favor them.
"The moment of the murder in the middle of the day and the fact of how the murders are carried out worries me. If we analyze the recent murder in Tirana, it means that a murderer is a man who has the psychological, technical preparation to commit this type of murder, especially when we have to do with a paid killer, this becomes even more disturbing. We have in court many examples, they say I was paid 30 thousand euros for one human life. Imagine what situations we are in when it comes to killers. The murders of the mafia-type have increased and we have the murders of Mirdita, Durrës, Fier and Tirana, and Vlora, which are of the mafia-type and are worthy of Hollywood movies", - says the former director of the State Police, Arben Hajdarmataj.
According to Jaupi, many perpetrators are known to the police, but the biggest problem is finding evidence and irrefutable facts.
"The truth is that there are events that, although a lot of work is done, no legal documentation is achieved. In operational ways or in various police information we can have certain names, but in order to bring them to justice, this is done only with legal evidence, not with police information. In continuation, even for those events that have happened, we will have concrete names for authors"- Jaupi claims.
Experts see a strong link between these recent mafia killings and politics.
"The main culprit is politics and we must be clear that when I say politics, it is those who have the power that they have the mechanism to commit a crime. Those in power are incriminating to the ear as the opposition has no mechanism to protect the crime. We take the case of money laundering, which enters Albania without a political decision and there is no investigation into their entry. We have reached a stage where self-judgment is used by businessmen when problems in state institutions are not solved. There are plenty of businesses that are burdened with working honestly. For the murder of the businessman on the edge of Lana, we may have conflicts due to business, but we have to wait for the investigation and there was information that he was convicted for drug trafficking outside Albania," said former police chief Arben Hajdarmataj.
But even more disturbing is the fact that these criminals are being released even though there have been of those who have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
"It is a very disturbing phenomenon, as we are witnessing the release of criminals, even those sentenced to life imprisonment, and who have come out and, in addition to being free, have reactivated their criminal groups and continue to work undisturbed." says former police chief Ilir Gjoçi.
The release of these criminals takes place during the election campaigns, according to the former police chief Ilir Gjoçi.
"This is mainly related to corruption in the field of justice, but also to the influence of the government to make their release possible, as these characters over the years have been used in election campaigns. There have been cases that have been released by the police "- said the former police chief Ilir Gjoçi.
"This is a very worrying phenomenon lately and I am not the only one saying that, but all international reports say it. Even the latest report of the state Department’ described money laundering as a very worrying phenomenon.
Investment of crime money is done mainly in construction, hotels, tourism, and in those areas where a lot of money is circulating. We have seen that at the peak of crises such as earthquakes or pandemics, in Albania and mainly in Tirana, the construction of ladders is flourishing" - emphasizes Gjoçi.
There are less and less "murders for banal motives" in Albania, as the motives for the murders are spread in some countries and include criminal groups which have a past in the war between them. These killings are covered up by money laundering in businesses including justice institutions, politics and making these mafia killings 'chronicles of a forewarned crime".