FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The GJKKO has decided to pass on to trial the SPAK file against the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, who is accused of corruption and money laundering.
One year after his arrest, the Criminal Court has decided that the case against the Mayor and his wife, Ajola Xoxa, as well as other persons involved in it, will go to trial.
The decision was made in the preliminary hearing, while the Mayor of Tirana has repeatedly raised claims that he is not being able to familiarize himself with the file in order to prepare for the defense.
On the other hand, the Mayor's legal defense described the process as irregular and with serious violations.
"Due to serious violations of due process during the preliminary hearings, the lawyers in the case where the Mayor of Tirana and other defendants are being tried, have boycotted today's session where the decision to proceed with the trial on the merits or not is being made," they said in a reaction.
Erion Veliaj was arrested on February 10, accused of having, together with his wife Ajola Xoxa, built a complex corruption and money laundering scheme to illegally benefit from the capital's municipality funds and bribes from its businessmen contractors, using a network of companies and non-profit organizations.
According to SPAK, the mayor of the capital and his wife have benefited from around 1 million euros from this corrupt scheme.
On November 3 of last year, the Constitutional Court overturned the decision of the Council of Ministers to dismiss Erion Veliaj from the position of Mayor of Tirana, finding it incompatible with the Constitution.
Lini një Përgjigje