Albania’s parliament lifts the legal immunity of former prime minister Sali Berisha

By LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s parliament has voted to lift the legal immunity of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is accused of corruption. Opposition lawmakers inside the hall boycotted the vote and tried to disrupt the session by collecting chairs and flares, but security guards stopped them. Berisha declined to take the floor to speak against the motion. The ruling Socialist Party holds 74 of the 140 seats in Albania’s national legislature, and 75 lawmakers agreed to grant a request from prosecutors to strip Berisha of his parliamentary immunity. Thursday’s vote clears prosecutors to seek a court’s permission to put Berisha under arrest or house arrest.