'Some of it belongs to the mother and some to the stepmother', why justice is not being served for Benet Beci

Shkodra Mayor Benet Beci was officially indicted in mid-April, just a few weeks before the general elections on May 11.

In a document recently published in the media, socialist official Beci, along with 6 others, are apparently accused of committing the criminal offense of "Violating equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", in collaboration.

The document highlights that the investigations resulted in the fact that "Albanian Power Corporation" sh.a., on 18.12.2019, conducted the procurement procedure with the object: "Strategic Development of the Energy Sector (Research Project) with a fund limit of 69,500,000 (sixty-nine million five hundred thousand) lek.

In short, not only was there no notification from SPAK before the elections about this investigation against Beci, but no measures were taken, as SPAK officially took the defendant into custody in October 2024, as accused of the criminal offense of 'Violation of equality in tenders'.

Despite this fact, Beci continues to freely exercise his duties as mayor, unhindered by the authorities, which have acted differently with other important political figures such as Mayor Erion Veliaj or PL President Ilir Meta.

They have been in detention cells for several months now, although no official charges have been filed against them. 

Specifically:  

The leader of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta, who has been in detention since October 21, 2024.

In the 176-page SPAK investigative file that led to the arrest of former President Meta and the indictment of 3 others, the Special Prosecution Office states that the criminal offenses of corruption, money laundering and failure to declare assets in several cases have been proven. First, regarding the CEZ agreement with DIA, SPAK says that it has administered evidence that Meta, while he was Minister of Economy and Energy, benefited from money in the form of corruption from businessman Kastriot Ismailaj, in his capacity as administrator of the DIA company.

According to the prosecution, there are wiretaps carried out years ago, including 1 in 2009. SPAK states that Meta asked the businessman, Ismailaj, for money through an SMS. The close relationship between them, according to the prosecution, is also proven by their trip to the Czech Republic, where SPAK suspects that the agreement between CEZ and DIA has begun.

Another issue in the investigative file is that of the medical expenses of the former couple, Ilir Meta and Monika Kryemadhi, in the amount of about 106 thousand euros, money that was not declared by them. These expenses were discovered by SPAK and are reflected in the voluminous file. Also, other expenses reflected in the investigative material is the payment of 400 thousand dollars made by the LSI for lobbying in the USA, but which was not made through the LSI accounts.

Among the episodes that SPAK claims that the former President has committed the criminal offense of corruption and money laundering is the intervention during his time as Speaker of the Assembly for the introduction of a private company into the fiber optic market, as well as the purchase of a duplex in the former Blloku area. These accusations raised by SPAK, former President Ilir Meta himself has rejected and described as political, and according to him, he is in prison without charge or trial.

On the other hand, the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, has been arrested by order of the Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) for 4 months.

We recall that BKH officers landed at the Tirana mayor's office on February 10 to escort him to the prosecutor's office. Veliaj was remanded in custody on February 12 by the Special Anti-Corruption Court (SAC) accused of committing the criminal offenses of "Passive corruption of high-ranking state officials or local elected officials" and "Laundering of proceeds of criminal offenses or criminal activity."

It is worth noting that these criminal offenses are suspected of having been committed a total of 9 times by the Veliaj - Xoxa couple, the latter with 3 official charges, which are: "Passive corruption of high-ranking state officials or local elected officials", committed in collaboration (9 times), "Laundering the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity", "Refusal to declare, failure to declare, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants or of any other person who has a legal obligation to declare".