November 22 (SeeNews) - Albania’s President Bamir Topi on Thursday sacked the country’s top prosecutor Theodhori Sollaku over poor performance under a proposal by parliament.
Earlier this month, the country's parliament proposed to the head of state in a 77-37 vote to fire Sollaku after a special parliamentary committee set up to investigate the work of the chief prosecutor said that Sollaku had failed to cooperate with international law enforcement agencies, had approved the release of about two dozen convicted criminals and had failed to act in serious criminal cases.
Sollaku has denied any wrongdoing.
“The President estimated that the Assembly proposal on Sollaku’s dismissal is in line with the constitution and signed the decree for the chief prosecutor's dismissal,” Topi’s office said in a statement.
Topi nominated judge Ina Rama to replace Sollaku. Since 2005 Rama, 35, has been a judge at the Serios Crimes Court of Appeal. Her nomination has to be endorsed by parliament.
Sollaku, 46, was appointed chief prosecutor in April 2002.
Albania has been widely criticised by international donors and institutions for its failure to fight corruption, organised crime and illegal trafficking. Corruption watchdog Transparency International has said that last year Albania led the list of countries in the world in terms of the number of bribes sought by police or other officials. Two out of three respondents said they had given at least one bribe in 2006.
In September, Albania's deputy Transport Minister Nikolin Jaka and six other government officials were arrested on charges of corruption.