The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, remains in prison, after the Special Appeal upheld the decision of the Special Court for Organized Crime and Corruption.
Although Veliaj opposed the new evidence claimed by SPAK, such as wiretaps, and requested the lifting of his prison sentence, stating that he is not dangerous, has no risk of leaving, and is not likely to damage evidence, the Appeal decided to uphold his prison sentence.
Veliaj is accused of the criminal offenses of “passive corruption of high-ranking state officials or local elected officials” in 9 cases, as well as “laundering the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity.”
The Special Appeal left businessman Elman Abule under house arrest, while in the session held a little earlier for Ajola Xoxa, the decision for preventive seizure of her bank accounts was upheld.
According to SPAK’s investigations, 1.1 million euros were generated through 8 businesses and NGOs of Ajola Xoxa and Elman Abule. All of these businesses and NGOs, already entered into the criminal record, were used according to SPAK to introduce the earned money into the banking system through various transactions. This goal, according to SPAK, would have been impossible without the cooperation of Elman Abule and his family.
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