Xhevair Kamberi's defense attorney from the Ministry of Economy, lawyer Naser Raufi, in his opening statement assessed that the indictment against his client was "built on assumptions, not on evidence."
According to him, Kamberi had no legal obligation or mechanism to conduct on-site inspections and check the fulfillment of minimum requirements, as his work was exclusively administrative – preparing licenses based on the submitted documentation.
"The defendant is not an inspector, his job was to obtain documentation and issue a license based on it. The responsibility for the authenticity of that documentation lies with the applicant. The prosecution claims that officials at the DMSH did not act according to the law and did not organize supervision, and this confirms our thesis that supervision is the obligation of specialized bodies, not administrative employees. The responsibility for the tragedy lies with those who made the decision to operate without a license and the inspection services that did not prevent the conduct of unregistered activities. This responsibility should not be transferred to an administrative official, whose last point of contact is the issuance of a license in 2023," said Raufi.
The prosecution accuses Kamberi of accepting a bribe, but the defense claims that both charges are unfounded. According to Rauf, the transaction of 12 thousand denars through a bank account cannot be treated as a bribe, but as a loan.
"Bribery is a secret and hidden act - it is not carried out through banking channels with the aim of sending money. The prosecution has not proven what kind of counter-service Kamberi provided. The indictment filed does not contain sufficient qualitative evidence, the indictment is a collection of assumptions, misinterpretations of jurisdiction and procedural omissions. There is no causation - the real cause of the tragedy is the illegal operation without a license and the unauthorized use of pyrotechnics. Kamberi is not the cause of the tragedy nor a forger, but a man whose name has been misused, a sacrificial lamb in a legitimate, but misguided, search for justice," the lawyer emphasized.
Raufi added that there is an institutional failure in the criminal prosecution of the bribe giver and announced that the defense will prove the unfounded accusation.
Defendant Kamberi agreed with his defense attorney's opening statement without further comment.
The trial for the fire in which 63 people died and over 200 were injured on March 16 of this year continues tomorrow with opening remarks from representatives of the Ministry of Economy.
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