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Another file against Veliaj ends up in SPAK, Appeal orders investigations into the "mayor" and his directors

2025-07-03 11:05:00, Aktualitet Elton Qyno

Another file against Veliaj ends up in SPAK, Appeal orders investigations into

The demolition of private houses by the Tirana municipality in 2022 in the "May 5" area is expected to become a hot file in SPAK against Erjon Veliaj, Mariglen Qato and other former officials of this municipality.

This is because through a decision issued on May 19, 2025 by Tirana Appeals Judge, Fatri Islamaj, the latter has "nullified" the decision of his colleague, Judge Gerd Hoxha, ordering that the criminal file No. 1782 against Veliaj, Mariglen Qatos, Arben Caka and other officials, be transferred from the Tirana prosecution and investigated by a special prosecutor at SPAK.

The Tirana Court of Appeal has decided to overturn the suspension decision taken by the Tirana Court of First Instance, and to order the Tirana Prosecutor's Office to send the criminal file against Veliaj and his former subordinates for lack of jurisdiction for further investigations to the SPAK Special Prosecutor's Office.

This move comes 40 days before the Supreme Court reviews Erjon Veliaj's request on July 8, 2025, to reduce the security measure from "prison arrest" to "house arrest" or to another more lenient measure.

Meanwhile, with the arrival of this file at SPAK, the series of criminal cases against Veliaj increases to 4 files, such as the one of corruption with municipal funds through his wife's NGO, the issue of the demolition of the national theater, and the issue of the non-existent Tirana incinerator.

According to documents obtained by "Ora News" journalist Elton Qyno, on March 27, 2024, this file was suspended in the preliminary trial phase, for a request with the subject: "Request for suspension of criminal proceedings No. 1782" submitted to court by the Tirana prosecutor's office.

The case was sparked by a criminal complaint filed with SPAK in early 2022 by Ledion Mziu, a resident of the "5 Maji" neighborhood whose house the municipality demolished where he lived with his family.

The whistleblower directly accused Erjon Veliaj, Mariglen Qaton, Arben Caka and other officials of the capital's municipality of the criminal offenses of "Abuse of office", "Destruction of property", "Illegal deprivation of liberty", etc.

After a 15-day verification, SPAK sent this material to the Tirana Prosecutor's Office for review, with the following justification:

“…although the complainant has reported the Mayor of Tirana, the decision-making for the demolition of the buildings and their subsequent execution is within the competence of the Local Inspectorate for Territorial Protection, and the Chief Inspector and Inspectors of this Inspectorate are not included in the circle of special subjects provided for in Article 75/a of the Criminal Code…”.

The case was then investigated for several months by the Tirana prosecution, which decided to close the file against Veliaj, Mariglen Qato and other individuals.

The request for leave was submitted to the Tirana court, in which the defense lawyers raised the claim that this court is not competent to review the criminal file, since one of the persons who was reported and investigated was Erjon Veliaj.

But the Tirana Court did not accept these claims, continuing to review the request for leave brought by the prosecution and at the end of the trial of this request, decided to suspend the trial, with the argument that the complainant had also opened a civil process in the Administrative Court.

But this decision of March 27, 2024 was appealed by the complainant Mziu to the Tirana Court of Appeal, who requested the annulment of the suspension decision and the return of the file against Erjon Veliaj and others, for further investigations at the SPAK special prosecutor's office.

On May 19, 2025, Appeals Judge Fatri Islamaj accepted the request, overturning the above decision and deciding that the file against Tirana municipality officials be investigated by the special prosecution.

According to the assessment of the Tirana Court of Appeal:

“…the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Tirana was not competent from a substantive point of view to adjudicate the prosecution's request to dismiss this case. The criminal complaint also included, among others, Erion Veliaj, acting Mayor of Tirana, who is part of the circle of special subjects, the charges against whom are tried by the Court against Corruption and Organized Crime. In the specific case, the competence regarding the investigation of the criminal charge against Erion Veliaj belonged to the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime, because this body is competent for all charges against special subjects…”.

The investigative file states that the complainant Ledion Mziu was at his home with his family on January 19, 2022, at around 10:30 am.

While he was out on the balcony, he saw many employees of the state police, municipal police, the Eagle Forces, the National Security Forces, as well as employees of the Tirana Municipality's IMT.

These employees asked his father to come out and provide ownership documents, which his father provided.

After 10 minutes, a police van arrived and his father was escorted to Police Station No. 4. He explained that he had left the apartment and spoken to a police officer, introduced as the chief of Police Station No. 4, citizen Petrit Halo.

The latter told him that he had to leave the apartment because they had a demolition order for the apartment and called the Chief Inspector of the Tirana Municipality's IMT, Mariglen Qato.

Qato told him that there was no decision to demolish the apartment, but that they had been notified by letter No. 18 prot., dated January 12, 2022, of which the complainant was aware and that the letter constituted only a notice of cooperation for the voluntary vacating of the apartment.

The complainant explained to Mariglen Qato that he had informed her that he was in legal proceedings at the Administrative Court of First Instance and that he had asked her if there was an agreement between him and the Municipality of Tirana for the demolition of the apartment, or a decision of the Municipal Council.

After Mariglen Qato's responses, he asked the Chief of the Police Station to take preventive measures, as Mariglen Qato was abusing his duty and immediately after this request, Mariglen Qato asked the Chief of the Police Station to surround his apartment and remove the other residents from the apartment.

Despite informing the head of the Commissariat that he had requested protection from the General Directorate of the State Police via email on December 15, 2021, numerous police forces surrounded his apartment and several IMT employees broke down the main gate.

He explained that in the meantime he had climbed onto the terrace of his house to film the actions that the police and IMT officers were carrying out and, as a form of protest, he handcuffed himself in one hand.

He further indicated that he had filed a complaint with the Albanian Anti-Corruption Commission (SÇBA) at its official email address regarding the illegality of the actions taken by state police officers, but had not received any response.

The complainant also explained that the Municipality of Tirana has allowed the creation of a new waste landfill in the neighborhood and has not taken any measures to prevent environmental pollution.