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Fatmir Xhafaj, Veliaj's illegal lobbyist to the special judges/ How are you trying to get him out of jail?

2025-03-08 14:44:00, Politikë CNA
Fatmir Xhafaj, Veliaj's illegal lobbyist to the special judges/ How are you
Erion Veliaj and Fatmir Xhafaj

Erion Veliaj seems to be trying to pull all possible strings to leave the cell and for this he has also engaged his collaborator in the Socialist Party, Fatmir Xhafaj.

The Mayor of Tirana was arrested on February 10 by SPAK order on charges of corruption and money laundering. The Special Court decided that Veliaj should remain in custody, confirming the personal security measure of arrest in prison.

Since his arrest, Veliaj has put in place a series of mechanisms to enjoy freedom again, despite the serious accusations against him. Accusations that the mayor has denied, stating that neither he nor his family have any connection to corruption. SPAK investigations, however, say the opposite.

According to the prosecution, Veliaj has embezzled at least 1.1 million euros from public funds, channeling these funds to businesses and in return benefiting his family members illegally. SPAK concluded that Veliaj and his wife received bribes from municipality funds or contracting companies - illegal benefits that were injected and 'laundered' through a network of NGOs and companies controlled by Ajola Xoxa.

Denigration of the prosecutor

Veliaj's battle to leave the cell and appear innocent has been fought simultaneously on several fronts. Public communication is one of the chosen battlefields, with Veliaj trying to use the media space around him and the reactions on social networks to position himself as a victim of a prosecutor, who, according to him, is being used by his political opponent, Sali Berisha. Attacks and denigrations against the judge who approved the security measure "prison arrest" against him and especially the SPAK prosecutor who requested the mayor's confinement in a cell, highlighting his dangerousness for destroying evidence, have been almost daily by Veliaj.

Legal battle

The legal path is another battleground for Veliaj. He has appealed the decision of the Court of Appeals that left him in detention, seeking his freedom.

Veliaj claims that SPAK prosecutor Ols Dado has a conflict of interest in investigating the case under his charge, as according to him, he has requested a construction permit that Veliaj has refused. The mayor has requested the suspension of the prosecutor in the case from duty, through requests addressed to the office of the High Inspector of Justice and the High Prosecutorial Council - an institution that previously publicly expressed concerns about Veliaj's public attacks on prosecutor Ols Dado.

The underground game

Attention, however, is focused on the Special Appeal, which will decide whether or not to accept Veliaj's request to overturn the prison sentence, upheld by the first instance court.

According to several media reports, Veliaj's brother, also a person under investigation in the same case as the mayor, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to contract a private American law firm to prepare his defense in court.

The hearing to review Veliaj's request will be held on March 11 and the judge in the case is Engert Pëllumbi, selected according to the court's announcement, through a draw.

And an underground effort to influence the court's decision has begun. From reliable sources, "Gijotina.com" learns that the character who is trying to act as a broker to the judge in the case, seeking a decision in favor of Veliaj, is Fatmir Xhafaj.

The latter is known for his influence in the field of justice and according to some media reports, some of the officials with important functions are part of the group that has been labeled as the “Xhafaj clan of justice.” With influence in these ranks, which is clearly an illegal attempt to influence a judicial decision, Xhafaj is precisely seeking to save his ally Erion Veliaj.

Veliaj's public defense by Xhafaj

Xhafaj has never hidden his pro-Veliaj stance. In a lengthy post on social media on February 15, a few days after the arrest, the head of the special parliamentary committee, who is seen as anti-SPAK, attacked the judiciary by expressing support for the mayor in custody.

"...Some of the people who serve in the system have changed a little in their mentality, approach and behavior in relation to the law and duty," said Xhafaj, attacking justice officials.

Regarding Veliaj, who is suspected, at least according to media reports, of having benefited from numerous building permits in Tirana through a builder, he says that "Erion Veliaj, as far as I know him and how I know him, is not a corrupt official."

He continues his attacks on SPAK and GJKKO in an attempt to protect the person arrested for corruption and money laundering, adding that "reading the court decision that accepted and certified the prosecutor's request for the security measure 'prison arrest', I am even more convinced of an unfair process in terms of procedure."

"The many pages of the court decision cannot convince anyone with the minimum of legal culture that the measure taken is proportional and in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding this security measure. Worse still, they do not convince when they put into question the public benefit and interest, including the political and electoral moment when it was given. If you then combine this with the 'anonymous' start of this case, the manner of proceeding, the way it was served to the public during the investigation and after the court decision, with some 'arguments' used for this decision-making that do not match the truth that we know and even worse when you hear about pressure and blackmail against the witnesses questioned, this rightly calls into question the professional and moral integrity of this process, making it suspicious in the eyes of every legal professional and the public itself," Xhafaj further wrote in the post on "FB", concluding the torpedo against SPAK and GJKKO.

Should the Special Prosecution Office take action?

In the context of an illegal attempt to influence one of the hottest issues of recent months, SPAK must be put into action. This was the conclusion of some of the legal experts consulted by "Guijotina" on the case.

An analogy that supports the argument was recently noted. Based on suspicions that illegal influence would be exerted on a Constitutional Court judge to influence the issue of the “SKY” wiretapping, the prosecution ordered the wiretapping.

We are in a similar situation: Fatmir Xhafaj is trying to intervene with the judge in the case in order to get Erion Veliaj out of prison./ Source: Gijotina.com





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