Mark Nika, a figure well-known in Albania for over a decade and a half for his stoic fight for justice, went to Parliament yesterday. He met with the head of the parliamentary majority group, Taulant Balla, expressing his disappointment over the delay in opening the January 21st file by SPAK.
Comments on this event were contradictory; one side called it a politically driven move by the Socialist Party, while others were pessimistic that Parliament could influence this matter. According to them, a resolution might be passed, but its effect would be lost the very next day in the parliamentary calendar files. Meanwhile, it seems that Mark Nika has always had a clearer picture of the situation in his mind and, of course, knows better than anyone the proper mechanisms that can be set in motion.
"January 21st" is the most well-known event among the Albanian public; almost everyone knows about 90% of what happened on the scene and behind the scenes. As he knows, the killings were carried out by the state in uniform, except that state officials denied it, attempted to cover it up, destroyed evidence, and obstructed justice. This happened using all levels of the judiciary.
But the highest school of the European judiciary, specifically a kind of supreme court for Albania—the European Court of Human Rights—with a "Dry Seal," issued its verdict on January 21, 2011: "It is a state crime!" In one word, the guilty were determined, but it asked the Albanian justice system to procedurally separate the processes according to the relevant codes, the criminal procedure code, and the penal code.
The High Court, set in motion by Mark Nika, issued a decision referring to the Strasbourg Court, asking SPAK to take up this matter. Even clarifying it thread by thread with a decision and persuasive arguments. SPAK has started actions, but so far, there has been no submission of the file to the court. Mark Nika, who with unwavering stoicism has single-handedly waged an epic battle for justice for 16 years, went to the Assembly yesterday. Asking the institution that represents the sovereign that it is up to it to move the stuck stones.
Parliament can do anything if there is will, as this institution makes laws, elects the president, the government, and all the people who run the judiciary. After all, if the Assembly cannot do anything, then why was it elected? This majority, for the most part, received votes precisely to bring those who killed on January 21st before justice. Otherwise, they might as well have voted for the opposing side; at least they are clear about who killed on January 21st. This is something Sali Berisha and his people constantly repeat: Edi Rama killed indirectly by sending them before the prime ministry...