Albanian Court To Try Minister Over Road Contract

Prosecutors have accused Basha of breaking the rules of public tenders and causing a budget loss of 115 million euros ($152 million).

Albania's Supreme Court on Friday selected judges to rule in the corruption trial of a government minister, the highest profile case since the 1990 trials of communist leaders.

Judge Spiro Spiro and four others were chosen through a process of casting lots to avoid charges of bias as the court prepares to try Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha on charges of abuse of office when he was transport minister.

Prosecutors have accused Basha of breaking the rules of public tenders and causing a budget loss of 115 million euros ($152 million) in awarding U.S.-Turkish firm Bechtel-Enka a contract to build a 60-km (37-mile) section of a road linking Albania to Kosovo.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Ida Vodica said Judge Spiro Spiro would set a date for the trial.

Basha's trial is likely to damage the Democratic Party government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who came to power in 2005 vowing to stamp out corruption.

Basha has consistently denied the charges and defended the building of the highway from Albania's Durres port to the border of newly independent Kosovo as the "Road of the Century".

He accused the main opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama and what he termed "segments of political prosecution" of fabricating "absurd charges" against him. He refused to resign.

"How can equality in tenders be broken when the selection was done without a tender? How can one be accused of abuse of office after the government has approved the activity of the respective agency?" Basha asked parliament.

Basha is accused of abusing his office and violating the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions.

Prosecutors also accuse Basha of breaking the laws of fairness by selecting the Ecorys Group as a consultant and allowing the Ecorys Group and Bechtel-Enka to negotiate the contract, not Albanian state representatives.