19 jailed over deadly factory blasts

An ALBANIAN court has jailed 19 people over a series of explosions at an ammunition disposal factory that cost 26 lives.

A further 300 people were injured and 5,500 homes damaged or destroyed in the explosions in March 2008, at the factory in Gerdec. The blasts sent shrapnel and shell fragments raining down on homes and vehicles, and houses more than a mile away were damaged.

But relatives of the victims insisted the punishments were far too lenient and that top government officials had avoided justice.

The court sentenced the 19 to between one year and 18 years on charges of gross mismanagement and related offences, while nine others were cleared. Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment for three of the defendants.

Some relatives of the blast victims said they were outraged by the verdict, and maintained that officials, including the then defence minister, had not been properly held to account. Lawyers vowed to appeal some of the verdicts.

Zamira Durda, whose six-year-old son was killed while playing in the back yard of their home, tried to block the courtroom door in protest. “They have killed my son for the second time,” she said, sobbing.

The Socialist opposition blames the deadly explosions on corrupt officials in the ruling conservative coalition, claiming they ignored safety regulations while profiting from the disposal of obsolete Communist-era weapons from China and Russia.