Sunday, February 23, 2014

Prisoner exchange between Albania and Greece
21/02/2014


Prisoner exchange between Albania and Greece
The Minister of Justice, Nasip Naco, held a visit in Athens, invited by his Greek counterpart, Haralambos Athansiu. The focus of the discussion was the cooperation of both countries in the justice system.

The parties have agreed for establishing a joint commission on the possibilities of transferring all Albanian and Greek prisoners from Greek to Albanian prisoners and vice versa, so that they can serve their time in their own countries.

The judiciary reform in Albania was also part of the discussion, and the Albanian Minister informed the Greek counterpart for the steps taken by the new government. The Greek Minister expressed Athens’ support for the judiciary reform, saying that the ministry he leads is ready to offer the help that is needed for improving the infrastructure in the Albanian system.

“We exchanged opinions about the judiciary and its functionality in both countries. We also exchanged opinions about prisons in both countries, and the possibility of sending Albanian and Greek prisoners in their native countries. We decided to create a joint commission to discuss this issue. We agreed to sign an agreement for sanctioning what we decided”, Athanasiu.

“Our relations have taken another dimension. We want to become European Union members, and we want to reach standards in this area. For reaching these standards we want your help and support. Crime has no limits, that’s why we need to cooperate with each other, so that our countries don’t become shelter of criminals for every country. We want the Albanian citizens who have been sentenced here to come and serve their time in Albania. This goes for the Greek prisoners in Albania too”, declared Minister Naco.

Both parties agreed to intensify the relations between the two Ministries of Justice. There are 2832 Albanian prisoners in Greece, from 12.000 in total.

Naco had a meeting with the Head of the Supreme Court in Greece, Mihalis Theoharidhis, with whom they discussed about the mutual cooperation in justice.

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