Press Release

Criminal offenses in the field of elections 

Tirana, May 20, 2021.  Following the administrative and procedural measures undertaken by the General Prosecutor for guaranteeing the normal functioning of the prosecution office in compliance with the constitutional and legal obligations for the period before, during and post-election, the prosecution is committed to investigate the criminal offenses with regard to elections as subject matter competence of the general jurisdiction. 

Referring to the reports from the prosecutions of the general jurisdiction on criminal offenses with regard to elections, the prosecutions have recorded criminal proceedings for 47 denouncements of criminal offenses related to the elections for the pre-election period until 18.05.2021. Six of registered cases are concluded as following:  four persons under investigation, out of which 3 (three) are transferred to SPAK, 1(one) case is terminated; 1(one) is suspended and 1 (one) is sent for trial. 

In the prosecutor's offices of general jurisdiction, 41 denouncements for criminal offenses with regard to elections are in the process of preliminary verification.  24 denouncements are transferred to SPAK for subject matter competence whereas it is decided not to initiate criminal proceedings for 20 denouncements for the following criminal offenses: 
 
Criminal offenses in the field of elections. 
Article 325, Obstructing Electoral Subjects
Article 326, Falsification of election material and election results  
Article 326 /a, Intentional damage of election material 
Article 327, Violating voting secrecy  
Article 327/a, Voting more than once or without being identified 
Article 328, Active corruption on elections
Article 328/a, Using the public function for political or electoral activities
Article 328/b, Passive corruption on elections
Article 329, Intimidation or Abuse against Participants in the Election process 
Article 330, Obstructing Voters. 
Article 330 / a, Abandonment of Duty by Election Commission Members
Article 331, Violating the Voting Rights
Article 331/a, Obtaining or using the identification documents illegally
Article 332, Abuse of military authority 
Article 332/a, Abuse of police authority 
Article 248, Abuse of office related to legal acts for elections         

Currently, based on the above-mentioned offenses, 11 persons are being prosecuted; 5 persons are arrested in flagrante delicto; the request for sentencing 4 persons with imprisonment is accepted only for 3 of them.  During this period, the prosecution offices of the general jurisdiction have received a total of 142 denouncements for criminal offenses in the field of elections, out of which: 84 from political entities/candidates, citizens or state institutions; 21 judicial police referrals and 37 are transferred to SPAK. 

Criminal offenses in the field of elections – Update/May 8, 2021 
Criminal offenses in the field of elections – Update/April 27, 2021 
Criminal offenses in the field of elections – Update/April 24, 2021