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The missing trial against Erion Veliaj

2025-08-04 11:31:00, Opinione Ermal Mulosmani

Erion Veliaj, the Mayor of Tirana, has been in prison for more than 6 months. The details of his criminal file were made public from the beginning, turning the Veliaj case into a public entertainment.
The prosecutors openly showed their zeal to discredit his figure. The people, eager for a prey of such levels, devoured the prey of the Prosecutor's Office with appetite and humor on social networks and daily coffee shop conversations.
The Mayor is accused of having set up a profit scheme, through which the beneficiaries of his Municipality's tenders, sent their "tax" to non-governmental organizations created by his wife, Ajola Xoxa, as a reward for the tenders.
A banal theft scheme.

But Erjon Veliaj deserves another accusation. More noble, more dignified, more magnificent. He, together with the Prime Minister, are the gravediggers of "Tirana - a livable city".
SPAK prosecutors have it very easy to prove such an accusation. They only need to take a tour of the high-density areas of Tirana. They will see urban disasters, buildings that do not even respect the minimum possible distances from their neighbors. Greed for profit has led builders to devour every square meter, taking our breath away. Have you seen any building that has a yard where children can play?! Who is responsible for public spaces in this country?! And who is responsible for green spaces? Who destroyed the green hills of Tirana, the perennial olive trees in the Lake area?

I took a tour yesterday in the area where I live, in Liqeni i Thatë. It is the area near the Radisson Hotel, going uphill, in Ullishte. The density of construction there is frightening, the buildings are one on top of the other, you can't breathe if you look out the window. And yet, in those few "free" meters, two other monsters were being built. A little further, on the left side, where the distance between the road and the two buildings was probably 10 meters, a reasonable minimum for any normal mind, a famous builder had spotted an opportunity to build a multi-story building for the offices of his Company! Even though this multi-story building entered the homes of the defenseless residents of the two buildings.
In Ullishte opposite, a concrete monster of colossal size is being built. Going up the olive grove, I found only cranes, gravel, inert materials and dirt. The olive trees were lying there, aware that their end is near. In the green valley that descends from Lapidari downwards, dozens of other buildings are being built.
Distances are minimal, public spaces are non-existent. Everywhere you see cranes, noise, dust and land hunters in search of new prey.

I have nothing against the multi-story towers that are being built in Tirana. Nor the dirty money that has been invested in construction. It is an issue that does not affect my daily life. While the concreting of every useful square meter for public space, yes, this has destroyed my way of life. My son cannot leave the house because he has nowhere to go. This is an environmental massacre with irreversible consequences, a cancer that is killing us every day.
The two main culprits for this massacre against its own citizens are Edi Rama and Erion Veliaj. Therefore, the Prime Minister's campaigns for "cleaning public spaces" are a slanderous farce. Illegal constructions are not the biggest problem (they are, of course).

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN THIS COUNTRY IS CONSTRUCTION WITH PERMITS.
And the permits in this country were given by EDI RAMA and Erion Veliaj. They are equally complicit.
Erion Veliaj must be punished for this crime. If SPAK begins investigations into the construction massacre in Tirana, I am sure that on the ground it will find "miracles" with permits.
The man who promised that he would "remain in the collective memory as the man who built more parks than palaces" - poured more concrete in 6 years than all the governments have poured in the entire 35-year transition.
This is a real trial. Not a dead end.