"I didn't realize there were gunshots"/ Arjan Ndoja testifies at the GJKKO about the assassination attempt in Shkozet

2026-04-23 15:47:00, Aktualitet CNA

"I didn't realize there were gunshots"/ Arjan Ndoja testifies at

Former prosecutor Arjan Ndoja testified today in the Special Court about the assassination attempt that was made on him in 2009 in Shkozet. At that time, his driver Andi Maloku was the victim, while Arjan Ndoja himself and Aleksandër Laho, known as "Rrumi i Shijakut", were injured.

During his testimony, Ndoja described his movements on the day of the assassination, stating that the moment the shooting started and the vehicle left the road lasted 20 seconds. He said that after the shooting, Andi Maloku was the one who reported that he had been shot.

Among other things, he stated that he did not know either the defendant or the co-defendants in the trial and that until the day of the incident he had not noticed anything suspicious. He further added that due to the political attacks against him at that time due to his position, he had doubts whether he could have been put under surveillance by state structures.

Full proof:

In 2019, I was a prosecutor in Durrës. Apart from the anathematization that high political figures have made of me, I have not had any other problems, I owned a family vehicle that was in my wife's name. A month before an event occurred that was used by the late citizen Andi Maloku.

On November 1, 2019, I left the house as usual at 7 am and went to work with Andi Maloku. Around 12 pm, I left work and moved towards the bar named Koral after I was invited for lunch with several people, including Aleksandër Laho. From 1 pm to around 4 pm, I stayed there, there were two cars, we moved towards the Dajlan Bridge. Andi Maloku was driving the car because I was not feeling well. I was in the first place and Aleksandër Laho was behind, he also had his car but he came with me to chat. When I left the bar until the incident occurred, I did not notice anything suspicious.

When we passed the tire shop that starts the first kilometer of the highway to the Shkozet bridge, the shots started, my vehicle was in the lane next to the traffic divider. In the first moments, I didn't realize that it was gunfire. The shots weren't in bursts, they were separate. There were two guns because they made different noises. And the time interval of the shooting, from when the shots started until the vehicle left the road, lasted about 20 seconds. When the late Andi Maloku was injured, he accelerated the car and we hit one of the road barriers and we ended up off the road. When we left the road and stopped because the car got stuck in the canal, only Andi Maloku was conscious and he called his dad and told him, "Dad, they shot us." When I tried to get out of the car, I lost consciousness and I don't remember anymore. While Andi Maloku fell when he opened the door because apparently the bullet was in his spine.

I did not learn even later who shot us. I sent my people to inquire about Andi Maloku's health. The family members do not know anything, but the deceased did not see anything either, because they did not shoot in parallel, they shot from behind. Apart from you as a prosecution body, or even from the court decisions, no one has come to meet us and tell us that this happened and the reason why they did this. I do not know the defendants in this trial, but also the co-defendants in a related proceeding. I know Plaurent Dervish by name because there was a proceeding in Durrës.

I spent my holidays in 2019 in Shëngjin because I have a house there. I generally sat at Koral for lunch and at a Kamelia bar at the Kavaja rock. Before the event, I did not see anything suspicious. Due to the political attacks, I had doubts that special police services had been deployed to me, due to the famous vetting, which most of you have successfully passed. I had no doubts, Mr. Prosecutor, that if I had had doubts, I would not have been left on the street for them to use their hands on me. When I saw Erjol Halilaj in court, I remembered that I had seen him in Durrës.

No one has come to meet us, but I know that 3-4 people have come to Andi's family to meet. But Andi's father knows better, and you have him as a witness. No one has brought me a message. By chance, in the Durrës court, I met Eriol Halilaj's uncle, he told me that he had wanted to come to meet me, I asked him why he didn't come, he said, but here is my nephew. I said, what do you know about your nephew. /CNA