US bans entry on Durres Mayor Vangjush Dako

The State Department today placed Durres Mayor Vangjous Dako on the list of persons banned from entering the United States along with the family. The report points out that the reason for this move is its involvement in major cases of corruption.

According to American law, when the Secretary of State has reliable information that a foreign official is involved in major cases of corruption, or human rights violations, he and his immediate family, are prohibited from entering America.

Vangush Dako, thus becomes the third official from Albania to be banned from entering the United States along with the family. Before him, the same move was taken against former Prosecutor General Adriaic Lella and former Socialist MP Tom Doshi.

The law banning US entry by foreign officials is one of the means the US administration has available to fight corruption and human rights violations by foreign officials. In contrast to visa-suffering laws, where in the event of rejection, the decision is confidential, the law that defines foreign officials as inadequate persons to enter America, is not confidential and can be made public.

This law has its beginnings in 2008, when Congress aimed at identifying and proclaiming inadequate access to America by foreign officials involved in corrupts to exploit their countries' natural resources.

In 2012, Congress expanded the scope of this ban, including the term <x0 large corruption sources” and clarified that the announcement of individual individuals could become public or remain private.

The first case the State Department used this law was in February 2018, when it banned entry into the United States of the former Albanian Adriatic Prosecutor General Lella.

State Department reports do not mention specific cases involving these officials.

In the past, the Voice of America has highlighted the prosecution's investigation into Durres Mayor Vangush Dako, who has resulted in keeping in touch with members of an organised crime group, known as the “Avdylave group” who is suspected to be involved in the vote purchase in aid of Mr. Dako during the 2017 parliamentary elections.

Persecuted phone conversations according to the prosecutor's file also show a time-spread relationship between Dakos and the Avdyli brothers, whose contribution to the election appears to have been rewarded with access to several key institutions in Durres. Dako has denied the charges.

During a debate in parliament in this case, Prime Minister Rama stood up to Mr. Dako, calling the wiretapping <x0mofts”, though he no longer ran Mr. Dako for the recent June 30th local elections, but without knowing responsibility for his case.

Until Tuesday evening, there was no reaction from the ruling majority to the US State Department's decision on the former mayor of Durres. While Democrat President Lulzim Basha through a Facebook status said that “is good news that the United States has declared non grata Vanjush Dako for “involvement in major corruption cases. It is bad news that Vangush Dako has not yet been brought to justice in any case of corruption”.

The former mayor has been one of the most recent names by the opposition for corruption and links to long-standing crime world characters. Even in his reaction today, Mr. Basha writes that “Vangush Dako is not just a corrupt politician. He is part of organised crime, in collaboration with which he stole elections on behalf of Edi Rama's power. In return, Vangjush Dako handed over organised crime to the economic and political control of Durres municipality. It is bad news that Vangush Dako has as a shield of invisibility from justice the country's prime minister, Edi Rama”, says Mr. Basha, adding that the “major corruption works have been done under defence, knowledge and benefit from Edi Rama. It's Eddie Rama who defends Vangush Dako, or as his friends call him, Edi Rama's personal dirty money ATM”.

Of 2017 to date there are about 170 officials and former Albanian officials whose embassies in Tirana have rejected visas. Their names have not become publicly known.