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The Voice of America lists all Veliaj's lies about the visit to SPAK

2024-05-01 14:16:00, Politikë CNA

The Voice of America lists all Veliaj's lies about the visit to SPAK

Erion Veliaj

In Albania, the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, was summoned today to the Special Prosecutor's Office against Organized Crime and Corruption, as part of the ongoing investigations into the Tirana incinerator. This is the first time that he appeared for this case, giving explanations for nearly 7 hours to the investigators and prosecutors. He has denied being involved in the discovered violations. So far, 15 arrests have been made in the case of the waste treatment plant in the capital.

Although the official notice required his presence at the Special Prosecutor's Office at 10:00, the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, appeared there almost 60 minutes earlier. He was forced to wait for the appointed time in the entrance area of ??the building, before going up to the offices of the investigators of the incinerator case.

Mr. Veliaj came out of the Special Prosecutor's Office laughing shortly before 5:00 p.m. As if to relativize the reasons for the extremely long time spent in front of the investigators, he said that he had been there as a collaborator with the investigator's prosecutors, whom he surprisingly called colleagues.

Mr. Veliaj also tried to let it be understood that he had gone to the Special Prosecutor's Office after his continuous requests, although in reality, he was served with a summons to appear to give explanations about the case of incinerator of Tirana.

He did not provide much detail about the points on which he was asked to give his version, but sufficed to state that "we had a total exhaustion, of the incinerator issue, with all the necessary explanations on how the IFC project differs - which was brought down and started by the former Municipality at 37 euros/ton and how this process was a completely different thing, unsolicited, by investors who had nothing to do with the Municipality of Tirana and had nothing to do with IFC- in, and I believe we clarified", he said, distancing the Municipality from the process of the incinerators, but declaring meanwhile that "the Municipality of Tirana has brought some other evidence, which I was asked not to share with journalists".

For a long time, Mr. Veliaj has been at the center of attacks by the opposition, which considers him as the key person for the Tirana incinerator case. A similar charge was issued against him, but without providing evidence and facts, also former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, on the run since last summer, after the Special Prosecutor's Office requested his arrest, for the issue of incinerators.

In August last year, the Special Prosecutor's Office seized the waste treatment plant in Tirana. The contract for its construction, with an estimated investment cost of 128 million euros (without VAT), was signed by the company "Integrated Energy BVSPV" sh.pk and the Ministry of Environment, in 2017. But still after 7 years, the incineration plant it doesn't exist, and everything works just like an ordinary landfill.

According to the Special Prosecutor's Office, the two entrepreneurs Klodian Zoto and Mirel Mërtiri are the "de facto" owners of the Tirana plant, as well as the other two in Elbasan and Fier.

In December, the Special Court signed, at the request of the Special Prosecutor's Office, 15 arrest warrants, as part of the investigation into the Tirana incinerator, of which 6 were under house arrest. Among those arrested was Taulant Tusha, General Director of Public Works in the Municipality of Tirana, one of the most important and weighty positions, considered one of the closest collaborators of the mayor Erion Veliaj. Another former director of the Municipality ended up in custody, while the orders of the Prosecutor's Office again affected the former Minister of Environment Lefter Koka, as well as the former Socialist MP Alqi Blako, as well as the two entrepreneurs Mërtiri and Zoto.

Mr. Veliaj has repeatedly rejected doubts about his involvement in the case of the Tirana incinerator, with which, as he said, "the only thing that connected me was the cleaning of the city".

In March of this year, the Municipality of Tirana received another blow when two former leaders in the Municipality of Tirana, Redi Molla, and Maringlen Qato, were arrested under suspicion of "passive corruption" and "concealment and non-declaration of assets". A second arrest warrant was also issued for Taulant Tushe. He is suspected of "violation of equality in tenders". The former directors, Molla and Qato, are suspected to be the real owners of the 5D company, which, according to the investigations so far, has irregularly benefited from tenders from agencies under the Municipality.

In a long public appearance at the beginning of the month, Mr. Veliaj distanced himself from his former directors, stating that any person involved should face justice himself.

The opposition, which has requested Mr. Veliaj's appearance before the Municipal Council to give explanations, has been organizing protests in front of the Municipality for several weeks, with calls for his resignation. The protests have been accompanied by tensions with the numerous police forces as well as violent episodes of throwing Molotov cocktails towards the entrance of the City Hall building.

The same scenario was repeated this afternoon, while the meeting of the Municipal Council was announced, which was then held online. A decision that for the representatives of the opposition in the Municipal Council, was considered unacceptable, at a time when they have requested an extraordinary meeting, where Mr. Veliaj, according to them, will have to answer for the abuse of funds by his former colleagues. /VOA