{"id":12743,"date":"2021-05-24T10:52:19","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T06:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/?p=12743"},"modified":"2021-08-23T10:03:04","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T05:33:04","slug":"maryam-rajavi-corrupt-advocate-albanian-sali-berisha-under-sanction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/posts\/12743","title":{"rendered":"Maryam Rajavi Corrupt Advocate, Albanian Sali Berisha Under Sanction"},"content":{"rendered":"

US sanctions Albanian ex-PM Sali Berisha over corruption<\/strong><\/p>\n

The US State Department on Wednesday sanctioned former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his immediate family members, citing \u201cinvolvement in significant corruption. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cIn\u202fhis official capacity as Prime Minister of Albania in particular, Berisha was involved in corrupt acts,\u202fsuch as misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes, including using his power for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members,\u201d said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.<\/p>\n

Former President of Albania Sali Berisha\u2019s corrupt acts undermined democracy in Albania. I am publicly designating Berisha and his immediate family members as ineligible for entry into the United States. We remain #UnitedAgainstCorruption with our partners in Albania.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 19, 2021<\/p>\n

\"Sali

Former President of Albania Sali Berisha at an MEK terrorists event<\/p><\/div>\n

76-year-old Berisha, who is now a lawmaker in the opposition Democratic Party, will be barred from entering US territory along with his spouse and their two children.<\/p>\n

The move will serve to \u201creaffirm the need for accountability and transparency in Albania\u2019s democratic institutions, government processes, and the actions of Albanian public officials,\u201d Blinken said.<\/p>\n

The State Department furthermore reiterated\u201d\u202fthe\u202fUS commitment to\u202fsupporting\u202fpolitical reforms key to Albania\u2019s democratic institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taulant Balla, general secretary of Albania\u2019s ruling Socialist party, hailed the US decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome the decision of the United States of America regarding Sali Berisha,\u201d Balla wrote. \u201cIt is a beautiful day for the Albanian Democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no immediate reaction from Berisha nor from his Democratic party.<\/p>\n

Berisha became the country\u2019s first post-communist president from 1992 until 1997. He served as Prime Minister from 2005 to 2013.<\/p>\n

Corruption has been an endemic problem in the Western Balkans nation since the fall of communism and a sticking point in the country\u2019s negotiations to join the European Union.<\/p>\n

Euro News,\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also read the\u00a0 US State Department Statement<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Public Designation of Albanian Sali Berisha Due to Involvement in Significant Corruption
\nPRESS STATEMENT<\/p>\n

ANTONY J. BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE,MAY 19, 2021<\/p>\n

Today, I am announcing the public designation of Sali Berisha, a former President of Albania, former Prime Minister of Albania, and former Member of Parliament of Albania, due to his involvement in significant corruption.\u202f In\u202fhis official capacity as Prime Minister of Albania in particular, Berisha was involved in corrupt acts,\u202fsuch as misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes, including using his power for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members at the expense of the Albanian public\u2019s confidence in their government institutions and public officials. Furthermore, his own rhetoric demonstrates he is willing to protect himself, his family members, and his political allies at the expense of independent investigations, anticorruption efforts, and accountability measures. With this designation, I am reaffirming the need for accountability and transparency in Albania\u2019s democratic institutions, government processes, and the actions of Albanian public officials.<\/p>\n

This designation is made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and\u202fRelated Programs Appropriations Act, 2021. In addition to Berisha, I am publicly designating his spouse, Liri Berisha, his son, Shkelzen Berisha, and his daughter, Argita Berisha Malltezi. These individuals are ineligible to travel to the United States.<\/p>\n

This designation reaffirms\u202fthe\u202fU.S. commitment to\u202fsupporting\u202fpolitical reforms key to Albania\u2019s democratic institutions.\u202f The United States continues to stand with the people of Albania.\u202f The Department will continue to use authorities like this to promote accountability for corrupt actors in this region and globally.<\/p>\n

For more information, please contact INL-PAPD@state.gov.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US sanctions Albanian ex-PM Sali Berisha over corruption The US State Department on Wednesday sanctioned former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his immediate family members, citing \u201cinvolvement in significant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[667],"tags":[79,642,24519,20],"module":[67],"ctype":[17],"blog":[109],"class_list":["post-12743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-albania","tag-mujahedin-khalq-declining","tag-paid-advocacy-for-mko","tag-sali-berisha","tag-third-view-mek","module-news","ctype-story","blog-western-bloggers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12743"},{"taxonomy":"module","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module?post=12743"},{"taxonomy":"ctype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctype?post=12743"},{"taxonomy":"blog","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nejatngo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog?post=12743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}