In Albania, law enforcement institutions appear to follow double standards for criminal offenses related to road traffic.
Martin Mane, the son of a businessman, was arrested on January 12, 2025 by the Tirana Police after crashing two cars and refusing to submit to an alcohol test. However, the Prosecution considered his arrest illegal, arguing that the mandatory procedures for taking a blood sample were not followed. Unlike Mane, in similar cases, drivers caught drunk have been arrested in flagrante delicto and held in custody for 48-72 hours before appearing in court.
Official statistics show that for 9 years, the prosecution has registered around 36 thousand criminal proceedings, where over 21 thousand citizens have been charged for criminal offenses related to violations of road traffic rules, which include criminal offenses such as: “Violation of road traffic rules” Article 290, “Violation of road traffic rules while intoxicated, without evidence” Article 291 and “Leaving the scene of an accident” Article 273.
In recent years, criminal policies have become stricter, as stated by the General Prosecutor’s Office in its latest report on the state of crime. In 2024, the prosecution requested 3,073 prison sentences from the court.
The arrest that clashed the Prosecution with the State Police
In the early morning hours of January 12, 2025, Martin Mane crashed two cars in front of the Parliament building.
During the day, Tirana Police announced the arrest of Mane on charges related to leaving the scene of the crime and disobeying police orders.
After being stopped, the young man refused to take the alcohol test, citing a health problem.
“Police services have found at the Luigj Gurakuqi intersection the car driven by citizen MM and have found that the vehicle had minor damage. The driver of the vehicle was invited to take an alcohol test, but claimed that he suffers from allergies. He was then escorted to the police station and was invited again to take an alcohol test, but again claimed that he suffers from allergies. He also refused to take a blood sample, claiming that he suffers from allergies,” the official announcement states.
The police arrested Mane in flagrante delicto for the criminal offenses of “Disobeying the order of a public order police officer” and “Leaving the scene of an accident.”
The police report does not mention a single line of Article 291, which talks about driving while intoxicated, a criminal offense for which the Criminal Code provides for a prison sentence of ten days to three years.
However, just a day later, the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office declared his arrest illegal, arguing that the authorities had not followed the necessary procedures for forcibly obtaining a blood sample as well as the conditions for arresting the young man in flagrante delicto. For this reason, Martin Mane was released and the investigation against him continues at large.
The Tirana Prosecution Office explains in an official announcement that the judicial police did not respect the procedure provided for in article 201/a, point “5” of the Criminal Procedure Code, and violated the law by arresting the young man Mane in flagrante delicto.
The prosecution is careful to explain that the police did not respect “the procedures for taking blood samples without the person’s consent” in the case of young Mane.
Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code speaks about the circumstances of “Forcible taking of biological samples or performing forced medical procedures” and in its 14 points precisely defines the methods of taking blood samples in cases of persons against whom criminal proceedings have been initiated.
Point 5 of this article, to which the Tirana Prosecution Office refers in the Mane case and accuses the judicial police of failing to enforce the law, states that:
“On the basis of the prosecutor’s request, the court may decide that the taking of biological samples or medical procedures be carried out without the consent of the person, when necessary and by restricting his/her freedom, if his/her health is not harmed and if it is necessary to prove the facts in the proceedings. Medical procedures that endanger the person’s life, physical integrity or health, that may harm the unborn child or that, according to medical protocols, may cause unjustified suffering may not be carried out.”
On the day of the incident, Martin Mane was neither criminally prosecuted nor did the prosecution appear to have made any request to the court to take blood samples from the young man.
However, the prosecution specifies that criminal proceedings No. 167 dated 13.01.2025 have been registered against the young man for the criminal offenses of “Disobedience to the order of a public order police officer” and “Leaving the scene of an accident”.
“It has been assessed that the criteria for arrest in flagrante delicto provided for in Article 251 of the Criminal Procedure Code have not been respected and for this reason the release of citizen MM and the continuation of investigations against him, in a free state, has been ordered” – states the official announcement of the prosecution, which specifies that administrative measures provided for by the Road Code have also been taken against Mane.
Referring to these measures, Martin Manes’ license has been suspended and if he is found again to be driving after consuming alcoholic beverages, he will be punished with a fine of two thousand five hundred to ten thousand lek or with a driving license suspension of 1 to 2 years, if he repeats the violation within one year.
Likewise, another punitive measure that the prosecution says was taken against Mane has to do with the obligation he has in the event of an accident.
According to the punishment, the young man must “stop and provide the necessary assistance to injured people, using the first aid kit.”
And while the prosecution is continuing its investigations to clarify the circumstances of the incident, leaving the young man free, it seems that other citizens who have found themselves facing law enforcement institutions in similar circumstances have not been so at peace with justice.
The force of law
Official INSTAT statistics show that 36 thousand criminal proceedings have been initiated by the prosecution for criminal offenses related to violations of road traffic rules.
From the registered proceedings, the prosecution has taken over 21 thousand citizens as defendants and these statistics refer to the years 2015-2023.
One of the people detained, arrested and prosecuted is Luan Beka. On May 16, 2024, he was stopped by police on the Librazhd-Qafë Thanë road.
The police forced Beka to take two breathalyzer tests, to which he tested positive with a level of 1.16 mg/l on the first test and 1.17 mg/l on the second test. Beka was immediately arrested and held in custody for 48 hours, before appearing in court and being ordered to appear.
The Elbasan Court, unlike the Tirana Prosecution Office in the case of Martin Mane, considered his arrest regular and he is now facing justice.
Lawyer Sokol Dedndreaj told “shteg.org” that in Albania, it has become the norm to detain and arrest people when it comes to violating articles related to road traffic.
“In such cases, for similar charges, the decision remains in the prosecutor’s discretion whether to keep him in custody or not. In Albania, they are usually kept in custody until they appear before the court,” says Sokol Dedndreaj.
Referring to the norm of the prosecution’s proceedings, lawyer Dedndreaj raises doubts about the reasoning of the prosecutor of the Tirana District Prosecutor’s Office regarding the young man Martin Mane.
“The prosecutor has considered the arrest illegal because an alcohol test was not conducted, but in fact the charges against the citizen documented by the police were not for driving illegally, but for two other charges, so I am not convinced by the argument,” says lawyer Sokol Dedndreaj.
Mane’s lawyer preferred not to comment on the questions that “shteg.org” raised about the case, and the State Police did not respond to the comments either.
The Ombudsman and legal representatives have consistently raised concerns about the high level of persons in pre-trial detention, which constitutes 62% of the total prison population.
Legal experts emphasize that the tightening of criminal measures has huge social and financial costs, so they argue that among the 7 coercive measures provided for in the law, that of ensuring “prison arrest” should be applied last.
Gazetare në “Rrjetin e Raportimit të Krimit të Organizuar dhe Korrupsionit në Shqipëri”- RRKOKSH.
Studente në fakultetin e historisë dhe filologjisë, Universiteti i Tiranës.
