Bank Governor released on house arrest, Inspector General remains in prison
15/09/2014

The Court of Appeal gave a “house arrest” security measure for the former Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ardian Fullani. The former Inspector General, Elivar Golemi, remained in prison. The Court also issued an arrest measure for another employee.

Fullani declared in Court that his work was led only by the law, dedication and passion. “I worked for raising an institution based on the law, a model for central and european banks. The theft was a low and isolated act. As soon that it was identified, we cooperated with the Prosecution”, Fullani declared.

The defensive lawyer of Fullani, Maks Haxhia, declared that his client has not violated the law. “The law says that the Bank should function even without the Deputy Governor”, Haxhia says. For the journalists he said that he wasn’t happy with the Court decision, claiming that Fullani should have been free.

The former Governor was discharged by the Commission of Economy, a decision that will be voted in Parliament on September 18th. Fullani’s arrest was seen as something positive by the public opinion, who asked for his resignation. It was also seen as positive due to the fact that during eight years of right wing rule, despite the promises for “clean hands” and fight against corruption, there have been no arrests for corruption higher than the level of a Deputy Minister.

Fulani is being investigated for other violations. Only a few days ago, the Supreme State Audit has filed another case for abuses with public funds.