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Fatmir Xhafaj puts "Veliaj's pants" on his head as a mask

2025-02-15 14:25:00, Politikë REDAKSIONALE

Fatmir Xhafaj puts "Veliaj's pants" on his head as a mask

The person who claims to lead the Special Commission against Justice, Fatmir Xhafaj, has put "Erion Veliaj's pants" on his head as a mask.

The "5D" MP, the man who became an MP and received a mandate with the support of the directors of Erion Veliaj and the Tirana Municipality who are behind bars for the incinerators and "5D", comes out and tells tales, even though he is in conflict of interest since he had his son-in-law as director for many years and the permit files signed by his son-in-law are still at SPAK being investigated.

In a long status on social media after supporting SPAK's justice reform, he emphasizes that Erion Veliaj was arrested at the wrong time, namely three months before the elections.

According to Fatmir Xhafaj's logic, you can't be arrested three months before the elections when you're a thief, you have to keep campaigning, buying votes, and then get arrested because this is the most banal thing in this whole story.

They also spend taxpayer money or the "5D" schemes and incinerators to buy votes, as has already been widely proven, and this was Xhafaj's problem.

As for the issue of whether the socialist MP was convicted or not in judicial practice, it is enough to get the notification and read it. It is the Ministry of Justice system that has convicted Erion Veliaj, neither SPAK nor the prosecutors have done so because they do not present it in their request.

It is clearly visible in the court's decision.

Below, read the status of Fatmir Xhafaj, who seems to be in great trouble.

Here he says he shouldn't have been arrested because it's the elections, on the other hand he says he's not corrupt.

In fact, it doesn't say a word about the hundreds of thousands of euros that Erion Veliaj has signed for various NGOs that send money to Ajola Xoxa and the money that the latter receives for the other hundreds of thousands of euros in Ajola Xoxa's bank accounts for the villas on the coast or the 140 thousand euros that were moving on pillows on the streets of Tirana.

It says nothing about the communications of Ajola's associates who call them vampires, and moreover, it says nothing about Klotilda Bushka, who went to the Ombudsman's office or other premises and intimidated and attempted to destroy evidence against Mayor Erion Veliaj.

The logic of the pants that Fatmir Xhafaj uses is unfortunately now worthless . It is not a matter of pants, but a matter of money, a matter of corruption , and saying that he should not have been arrested now but should have been arrested after the elections or should not have been arrested at all until the decision was made shows once again the shameful legal level of Fatmir Xhafaj and in whose hands the reform in justice or the path of Albania's integration towards the EU through legal changes and the adaptation of independent institutions to Albania's steps towards the EU is left.

This is actually even more outrageous when you consider that Erion Veliaj's panties may have gotten into Fatmir Xhafaj's head.

Fatmir Xhafaj's full status

Dear friends!

These days, many of you, colleagues, professionals in the field of justice, socialists and ordinary citizens, have contacted or written to me about some important topics of the day related to the Justice Reform, SPAK and especially the Veliaj case. I find their concerns legitimate regardless of the different perspectives. Unable to respond to all of you and reflecting on the obligation I have as a member of parliament, as former Chair of the Parliamentary Committee for Justice Reform (2014-2017) and now as Chair of the Special Parliamentary Committee for Deepening Reforms for Good Governance, Anti-Corruption and the Rule of Law, I decided to respond to you through this public response.

I.

First of all, what you will read in the lines of this public statement does not change my long-standing conviction and position about what we did with the Justice Reform here a few years ago and my role and contribution in this process. I have no doubt about the importance and values ??of this historic project, about the goals and expectations towards it. Today I am even more aware of the importance that this project has and will have even more in the years to consolidate democracy and the rule of law.

It's completely normal to have different opinions, but we must stick to the facts.

Today it is an undeniable fact that with this reform WE gave Albania a new justice to create once and for all with the Constitution a pure separation of powers as every other democratic country in the United Europe has, a separation of powers that this country has never had since the day it was created. The reform has given the justice system, its institutions and especially prosecutors and judges complete decision-making and functional independence, independence that they never had before and that today makes them comparable to the highest European standards.

The fact is that the new justice system has been given extraordinary support by this majority. Political support, support with human, infrastructural and budgetary resources like no one else and never before.

It is an undeniable fact that this reform project and its implementation have been and remain decisive in the country's integration process, in the assessments of various international agencies on the country's democratic progress and international image.

On the other hand, it is also a fact that while we have reformed the justice system by placing it on European standards, often the approach of politics, state institutions, the media and public opinion itself towards it remains the same. Just as it is a fact that we have established a new justice system, we have created new institutions with European standards, yet some of the people who serve in the system have changed little in their mentality, approach and behavior in relation to the law and duty. In my assessment, this is currently a key problem that deserves attention for treatment with appropriate solutions.

I feel sorry when justice workers, because of their duty, are intimidated and attacked, even to the point of blackmailing their families. I have been and remain in solidarity with them in this confrontation with evil, with the enemies of Justice Reform.

Meanwhile, I understand the healthy criticisms that are addressed, the constructive concerns that aim to identify problems and improve the system. Personally, I have not failed to publicly address such issues in several parliamentary debates, even though they have often been the subject of misunderstandings and speculations, and not infrequently, all-out attacks.


I have often requested that the justice institutions themselves be much more modest and reflective towards such criticisms, and not only when they come from international partners, yes, but also from professionals in the field, institutions, civil society and the citizens of this country themselves. In my personal assessment, as I have said several times publicly, independence can in no way serve to defend the weaknesses of the system, to justify the lack of responsibility, transparency and accountability on their part, to seek some unjustified and undeserved privileges, to not cooperate and interact with other powers in the function of common goals, in the interest of the country. This approach is one of the reasons for the problems that are observed regarding the poor quality of the internal governance of the system itself by the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, its internal control by the Supreme Administrative Court, the poor quality of investigations and trials, the protracted and excessive length of criminal, civil and especially administrative judicial processes, the lack of access and services offered to citizens, etc.

I am fully aware that there is no perfect reform and there is no perfect law, so it is a necessity, it is a responsibility to analyze progress, to have a self-critical and reflective sense towards the problems that practice brings out and a little more towards possible mistakes that may have been made in the process of implementing the reform. The implementation of this historic reform that we led and successfully finalized, was and remains an ongoing challenge. This is the reason that we, within the Special Parliamentary Committee on Good Governance, Anti-Corruption and the Rule of Law, have dedicated a special component to justice. (III.3 "Consolidation of the justice system"). This is because we have the responsibility to protect progress, to evaluate achievements, but at the same time to see the problems and reflect on them as an opportunity to continue and further consolidate the implementation of the Justice Reform, the justice system itself, while preserving intact and further strengthening the constitutional pillars of the new justice system approved in 2016, the existing architecture of the system.

WE, through a bold constitutional project, built a justice system entirely based on European standards, guaranteeing it complete decision-making and functional independence and we are strongly supporting it in every aspect, and now the taxpayers of this country have every right to see it do and deliver justice according to European standards, in full respect of the Constitution and the laws in force.

II.

Secondly, I would like to reaffirm that in the architecture of the new justice system, in our criminal justice institutions, the establishment of the GJKKO and SPAK has been a necessary solution in the fight against corruption and organized crime. We, unlike the general rule, established a special structure to do special work in the fight against organized crime and corruption in high-level officials, to investigate and try high-risk and high-profile criminal offenses in these areas, to decide in the judgment of the law matters of special public interest that for years had not been done and have not yet been made possible to be subjected to the judgment of true justice, equality before the law. Therefore, we have given the Special Court and especially SPAK (Special Prosecutor's Office of the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Commission) a special constitutional, legal and institutional status, but also a special support in status, in human and financial resources.

I have supported the work of the GJKKO, SPAK and BKH since day one and continue to do so, especially the prosecutors and investigators engaged in them, with the full conviction that they should and should be strongly supported in the function of their mission. And in my assessment, SPAK, with its work and proven results, has justified itself, as it has at least broken the phenomenon of

impunity. Even in the face of criticism about their work, I have always been defensive even when I have seen things that did not go well, justifying them with growth, with the difficulties of criminal investigations in these areas and the high pressure that such work carries, and I understand it from this perspective. I appreciate many of them for their honesty and professional skills.


This has not prevented me from listening attentively to every problem and concern about their work, related to the implementation of criminal law, especially in the procedural aspect. This not only from criminal lawyers with a lot of experience, but also from lecturers and legal professionals and representatives of civil society whom I appreciate for their knowledge. Therefore, I have been very supportive of the institution, but also critical and advisory on some problems which I have also articulated publicly in committees and plenary sessions. Because I have believed and continue to believe that like every institution and state organization, the GJKKO and SPAK need reflection and improvement in order to consolidate further. I appreciate the reports of the SPAK leaders to the Assembly, which have often had a sense of self-criticism and concrete proposals for amendments that generally aim to improve their function and work. The fight of SPAK and GJKKO against these phenomena is truly special and vital, but it is equally vital that everything in this process, the investigation, inquiry and trial be carried out through a due process of law, where the parties are respected and heard in accordance with the law, where the purpose of punishment is not the individual in itself, but the violation of the law, the investigation and trial based solely on the law and evidence, respecting the constitutional principles of the presumption of innocence and proportionality and especially by strictly respecting those that are so sacred, the fundamental rights and freedoms of man.

I have stated before that I am not among those who see imprisonment as the main alternative in security measures or who see the use of new justice instruments for criminal statistics or media populism.

These concerns, which I have heard articulated by many professionals in the field, I have raised coherently in every debate or public appearance. Just as SPAK itself, in its periodic reports to the Assembly, has strongly affirmed the fact that there will need to be legal improvements in some aspects. Precisely to address these issues, we have opened a constructive discussion with the invitation to cooperate on them, in the function of the public interest. A discussion to further consolidate the achievements, but also to reflect and improve the criminal justice system, of preventive, not repressive justice.

We, who did everything to free justice from the clutches of politics, have every right from God, moral, political and social credo to demand from these institutions to provide justice with non-negotiable democratic standards, just like the countries of the United Europe where Albania will be sooner rather than later.

III.

Third, I want to express my personal opinion regarding the most controversial and debatable issue at the moment, that of the Mayor of the capital, voted for 3 consecutive terms by the citizens of Tirana, who after a 1-year odyssey and more of all kinds of rumors is currently under investigation and at the same time under the security measure "prison arrest". I knew Mr. Veliaj closely the moment he came to the SP, then as a colleague MP and minister and for about 10 years I have been collaborating closely with him as a deputy of the Tirana district with the Mayor of Tirana and the political leader of the district as well. For all of this, as a comrade-in-arms of common battles, I regret what has happened to him and his family.

As a member of parliament for Tirana, I have seen firsthand the daily work of Erion Veliaj for the capital of the country, for the largest municipality, for the management of all the affairs of a city that grows every day and the challenges it faces grow every day. I have seen firsthand the popular support that Erion Veliaj has had in being elected as mayor of Tirana. Not even his most ardent opponents in politics, the media and public opinion deny this fact. I firmly believe that this is the main reason why he is fought so fiercely and often with blows below the belt.


It was this distinct progress of Tirana, the popular support of the mayor from the citizens, the approach of the electoral battle, the number of 37 mandates in Tirana, which made the opposition focus its entire pre-electoral battle on the Tirana Municipality and directly on Erion Veliaj for months. What the opposition could not do for over 10 months with about 50 weekly and often violent protests, it did with a court decision about 90 days before the elections, which imposed the security measure of "prison arrest" for the Mayor of the capital and one of the main political leaders of the Socialist Party for the Tirana region.

Personally, I am among all those who believe that Erion Veliaj, as far as I know him and how I know him, is not a corrupt official. No one is infallible, but I do not see his mistakes, even if they are such, as corrupt approaches. I do not know the entire case in question and I do not claim to know it in essence, but as far as I have read and with the knowledge I have of how this process was built, I have my own questions about the way it began and how it was proceeded in this criminal case. I fear that we are before a case where a person and his life are investigated and investigated, to find criminal facts against him and not before what the law allows and requires, that is, that a specific criminal offense is investigated and from there it goes to the responsibility of the specific person whose guilt or not is determined by the judicial decision-making of both levels and not by the investigator and prosecutor.

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 the procedural aspect. 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 it puts 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.

Let's be clear, no one is and should not be above the law. We are all equal before the law and everyone can and should be investigated and judged regardless of political, institutional and social status. Even Erion Veliaj, of course, YES.

I will not go into the essence of the matter at all, whether or not he is guilty and responsible for what he is accused of, despite the fact that from those hundreds of pages I do not clearly find such a thing, where is the corruption of the Mayor himself!! Anyway, this does not concern me and I do not even attempt to do this. This primarily concerns the prosecutors, they have the burden of proof, to prove guilt with convincing evidence, beyond any doubt, with clear evidence and not with assumptions and indirect interpretations as read in the court decision.

As a legislator, as an elected representative of the citizens of the Municipality of Tirana, I have every right to demand that all of this be carried out objectively and impartially and through a due process of law, in compliance with constitutional principles and the provisions of criminal procedural law, always taking into consideration human rights and freedoms and, of course, public interest and public safety. My long and deep acquaintance with Erioni keeps my assessment of him the same today as a public official who, wherever he has been, has served in the interest of the law and the public good. However, in the conditions when the inventories of clothing have been released in the media market (not without purpose given in that way and with those details), public opinion deserves to be clarified about them, despite the fact that, as can be seen from the court decision made public, there is no direct connection between those "facts" and the accusation of corruption against the Mayor.

In conclusion, expressing my support for Erion in his legal and political battle, I ask him, even in the current conditions of isolation, to be fully transparent about the accusations raised as an obligation to public opinion, the citizens and voters of Tirana, as well as in front of the judges who will judge him and decide on his truth. / CNA





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