Albanian parliament lifts immunity of Mark Frroku, accused of murder in Belgium

Albanian parliament lifts immunity of Mark Frroku, accused of murder in Belgium

The Balkans information portal, albeu.com, has revealed that Albania's parliament has unanimously approved the request to lift parliamentary immunity of Christian Democrat MP Mark Frroku, accused of committing murder in Brussels. The Office of the Albanian Chief Prosecutor requested parliament consider the request for parliamentary immunity to be lifted on 42-year-old MP Mark Frroku, for whom Belgium is requesting extradition. In 2010, the MP, known in Belgium as Besnik Morina, was found guilty, along with three others, of the murder of fellow countryman Aleksander Kurti, who was stabbed to death in March 1999 near Brussels Gare du Midi train station. Belgian justice believes the crime was committed by a prostitution ring run by Mark Frroku's elder brother, Arben Frroku, who is currently on trial in Albania for the murder of the chief of Tirana police in 2013.

Sentenced to ten years in prison in the first instance by the Brussels Court of Assizes, Mark Frroku appealed and should have been on trial again at Nivelles Court of Assizes in February 2014. In the meantime, however Mark Frroku had become MP for a small Christian Democratic Party in favour of the left-wing government in power in Albania.

“I have not killed anyone and I am not involved in any murder case. The Belgian authorities must prove that I was in Belgium at the time of the murder. I was in Albania at the time; I will answer any questions the judicial authorities, voters and the public may have”, said Mark Frroku on Tuesday during a parliamentary hearing.

Belgium requested his extradition but it was coupled with the lifting of his parliamentary immunity. Interpol Tirana kept the January 8th extradition request secret for almost 3 months, leading to the arrest of Interpol head, Artan Bajraktari, and his predecessor, Loreta Alla. The head of police, Artan Didi, also resigned.

(Source: Belga)


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