Edmond HoxhajTiranaBIRNNovember 20, 202517:07The special anti-corruption court suspended Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, who is under investigation for violating tender procedures, and barred her from travelling abroad, a source told BIRN.
Albanian PM Edi Rama and Minister of Infrastructure Belinda Balluku in parliament on November 9, 2022. Photo: LSA.
Belinda Balluku has been suspended as Deputy Prime Minister and as Minister for Infrastructure and Energy and forbidden to travel abroad amid an ongoing probe, an informed source told BIRN.
On October 31, anti-corruption prosecutors informed Balluku that she was under investigation for violating tender rules, linked to the construction of a road in 2020. She denies the allegations.
“On the request of SPAK [the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime], the Special Court of First Instance has imposed a personal security measure [on Balluku] – a ban on exercising her duties and a ban on leaving the country,” the source told BIRN.
“Personal security measures have also been imposed on two other individuals who are under investigation,” the source added.
The Special Court declined to comment officially, as such security measures are secret.
One of the most important figures in the ruling Socialist Party led by Edi Rama, Balluku has been Minister of Infrastructure and Energy since 2019 and Deputy Prime Minister since 2022.
The opposition Democratic Party had demanded her resignation. Gazment Bardhi, head of the opposition parliamentary group, on Thursday said “the fall of Belinda Balluku is the opening of a chapter” and called the court’s decision “a good step”.
Balluku has not reacted to the reports. On Wednesday, in parliament, she called the accusations against her baseless.
“I need to say a few words, not to compensate for the mud, the insinuations, the half-truths and the lies that have been spoken in abundance these days, but for the obligation I have to anyone who believes in work and not mud,” she said from the podium.
Prime Minister Rama also came out in her support after the opposition demanded her resignation. “You are acting as the people’s prosecution,” he told opposition MPs.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
