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BIRN: SP blocks the testimony of Edi Rama and Vilma Nushi about the sterilization affair
2024-11-12 18:08:33 / POLITIKË
Socialist members in the Parliamentary Investigative Commission for "Public Sterilization and Check-up Services in Health" opposed on Tuesday the call as witnesses of Prime Minister Edi Rama and entrepreneur Vilma Nushi.
The debate between the opposition MPs started during a long meeting where the former Minister of Health Ilir Beqja, arrested on the charge of "abuse of duty" related to the abuse of European Union funds, was called to testify.
The Chairperson of the Commission, the deputy of the Democratic Party, Albana Voksh, asked that a decision be made to request the extension of the commission's deadline again in order to call all the witnesses related to the case, including the Prime Minister as responsible for giving these two concessions and businesswoman Nushi as a direct beneficiary in the Check-up contract.
But the socialist vice-president Plarent Ndreca insisted that they had not agreed on other witnesses and that the deadline could not be postponed again after two postponements approved by the Assembly. "We have exhausted the witnesses" - he said, adding that the main witness was Beqja.
But, according to Vokshi, the Constitutional Court has given the opposition and every MP the right to request witnesses without having to agree with the Socialist MPs.
"For Vilma Nushi not to come, as we have asked for her since the first day as a direct beneficiary, this shows that you have orders to protect her to the end" - she addressed the socialist deputies, adding that "she cannot go above the law".
The commission's term ends this week, while many of the hearings during the more than 10 months the commission has been in place have been spent arguing between the parties.
Tuesday's session was no exception, as the procedure was debated for more than 5 hours while former minister Ilir Beqja was waiting to testify.
Beqja arrived at the Assembly with his hands handcuffed, accompanied by the police, and as soon as he sat down on the witness stand, he brought the commission to a standstill with the request to accompany his statement with visual images, photos and videos, by means of which he sought to defend the decision to licensed the process of sterilization of surgical equipment in public hospitals.
This is the most expensive public-private partnership contract of the 'Rama' government in the health sector, which has cost Albanian taxpayers about 76 million euros until the end of 2022 and according to the investigation of the Special Prosecutor's Office, it was awarded under conditions of conflict of interest, abuse of office and manipulation of the feasibility study.
The Chairperson of the Commission rejected Beqaj's testimony by visual means, calling his request contrary to the Code of Criminal Procedure and an attempt to make a show, but the socialists persistently defended Beqaj's request.
The Socialists insisted that Beqaj's request for a visual presentation of his defense be put to a vote, while Vokshi accused the SP of trying to block his testimony, while giving Beqaj the opportunity to read a statement before the interrogation./BIRN
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