"He allowed construction without a permit"/ Tirana Prosecutor's Office reacts to the suspension of the head of IMT

2026-03-31 10:32:00, Aktualitet CNA

"He allowed construction without a permit"/ Tirana Prosecutor's

The Tirana Prosecutor's Office has issued an official response to the suspension from duty of the head of the Territory Protection Inspectorate, Rigers Sheqeri.

According to the Prosecutor's Office announcement, Sheqeri and IMT lawyer EP were suspended from duty after allowing construction without a permit and failing to take the necessary legal measures. They are charged with the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", committed in collaboration.

Among other things, it is reported that the Prosecution has requested the security measure "Prohibition of leaving the country" for the administrator of a company, who is suspected of committing the criminal offense of "Illegal construction".

Announcement from the Tirana Prosecutor's Office:

They allowed construction without a permit and did not take the appropriate legal measures, the Tirana Prosecution Office requests security measures for the chief inspector and the IMT lawyer on charges of 'Abuse of duty'

At the request of the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction, Tirana, the security measures 'Suspension of the exercise of a public duty or service' were imposed on citizens EP and R.Sh under the charge of the criminal offense 'Abuse of duty' provided for in articles 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code. While for citizen PC, suspected of committing the criminal offense 'Illegal construction', the security measures 'Prohibition of leaving the country' and the obligation to report to the judicial police provided for in article 199/a, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code were requested.

Following the investigations conducted in connection with criminal proceedings No. 337/2026, based on the report made by citizen AA, administrator of the company "AL OIL 2019" sh.pk, who claimed that works were carried out on the property of this company that resulted in its damage, as well as construction works without a permit, it resulted that for the construction works subject to investigation, which took place in the Farka Administrative Unit and registered with the Local Directorate of ASHK-Tirana Rurale 1, it is necessary to obtain a construction permit and that the company "Eurocol" sh.pk was not equipped with such a permit.

Likewise, it resulted that the employees of the IMT at the Municipality of Tirana, initially kept the Minutes for the ascertainment of the offense No. 8331”, dated 29.12.2025, in which such a fact was ascertained, while subsequently, the Chief Inspector of this institution R. Sh., based also on the report prepared by the lawyer EP, decided to close the procedure, in violation of the law, without taking against the construction entity any of the administrative measures provided for by Article 5 of Law No. 9780, dated 16.07.2007, “On the inspection and protection of the territory from illegal constructions”. In this case, there is a reasonable suspicion based on evidence that citizens R. Sh. and EP, have committed the criminal offense of “Abuse of office” committed in collaboration, provided for by Articles 248 and 25 of the Criminal Code.

In the event of an unauthorized construction, the field inspectors record the violation and draft the relevant minutes, the case is passed to the legal sector for verification and preparation of the report and draft decision, while the Chief Inspector, as the decision-making authority, reviews the case and makes the final decision, imposing mandatory administrative measures, specifically the suspension of works, the imposition of a fine and the demolition of the construction, actions that were not carried out by the above citizens.

Likewise, from the examination of the scene and the conclusions of the Technical Expertise Act, it results that citizen PC, in the capacity of administrator of the company “EUROCOL” sh.pk, has committed the criminal offense provided for by article 199/a, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code. He has committed this criminal offense through illegal actions consisting in the construction of the reinforced concrete wall construction described above without having a construction permit for such a thing.

As explained above, the company in question had a work permit for interventions in infrastructure and for the installation of noise barriers, which expressly does not cover the construction of facilities that require a building permit, thus excluding any legal justification for the concrete construction carried out. /CNA