Erion Veliaj drags out court proceedings/ GJKKO suspends pre-trial detention terms

2026-05-26 11:22:00, Aktualitet CNA

Erion Veliaj drags out court proceedings/ GJKKO suspends pre-trial detention

The arrested Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, with 13 charges for 5 serious criminal offenses, continues to drag out the court proceedings at the Criminal Court of Albania.

Once again, Veliaj was not present at this session, causing the GJKKO to accept SPAK's request for the suspension of pre-trial detention due to Veliaj's delays in the process.

According to SPAK, Veliaj is obstructing the process and has requested that his detention be suspended.

The lawyer accused by the GJKKO with charges from SPAK, Plarent Ndreca, has again used the justification of investigative materials, while Veliaj has been handed investigative materials in all formats, both USB and printed.

It is learned that the next session will be held on June 10.

Erion Veliaj and his defendant lawyer Plarent Ndreca are using various tactics to avoid facing justice.

The arrested mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, continues to delay trials using every possible scheme and machination. His voluminous file has been in court since July and Erion Veliaj has been following the saga of postponing hearings for 10 months.

13 charges for 5 serious offenses, 9 counts of corruption, abuse of office, laundering of proceeds of crime, concealment of assets, and bringing prohibited items into the cell weigh heavily on Mayor Erion Veliaj.

Over 60 thousand pages of evidence that substantiate the accusations against the mayor who has used his office, municipal funds, to enrich himself and his family. During this period, Veliaj has used every kind of machination, from changing lawyers to attacks or lawsuits against prosecutors and their decisions in various courts./ CNA