Pressure and intimidation: Couple Veliaj and Bushka accused of obstruction of justice

Adela Kondakçiu spent the last two days before appearing to testify at the Special Prosecution Office in briefing meetings with her boss, Ajola Xoxa, and lawyers. Kondakçiu had been working as Xoxa's financier since 2018, and the meetings were intended to instruct her on what to say at SPAK.

Adela testified to investigators on December 12 that Xoxa and her lawyers asked her to be concise, to say “I don’t remember,” and to take her time with her answers. They also wanted to know what conversations she had stored on her phone, which had previously been seized by SPAK.

This is just one episode of what the Special Prosecution considers an organized effort to intimidate witnesses.

According to the security measure decision, the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj and his subordinates in the municipality, together with his wife Ajola Xoxa and the chairwoman of the Laws Commission, Klotilda Bushka, actively engaged in a campaign to intimidate witnesses, poison evidence and obstruct the investigation in December last year and January this year.

Veliaj himself is accused of sending intimidating messages to investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation, asking them to stop calling his wife to give statements, while City Hall officials were present at the meetings that Xoxa held with the witnesses in the case, before and after their interrogation sessions by SPAK.

“The Special Prosecution Office… has irrefutable evidence that most of the declarants called by us were contacted before and after the interrogation sessions by the citizens under investigation, specifically the wife of the mayor of Tirana,” SPAK says.

"The presence of important employees of the Tirana municipality, direct subordinates of citizen Erion Veliaj, both during the contacts that citizen Ajola Xoxa had with the persons summoned to give statements at the Special Prosecution Office, as well as during the moments of the search at the offices of "Partners Law" shpk, proves the intention to jeopardize the collection of evidence...", the decision adds.

The long-serving mayor of Tirana was arrested on Monday by order of the Special Court on charges of corruption and money laundering. He is suspected of having created a well-thought-out corrupt scheme to benefit from bribes from Tirana Municipality funds, through a network of NGOs and companies controlled by his wife.

On Wednesday evening, the Special Court confirmed the 'prison arrest' measure against Veliaj, while leaving Ajola Xoxa under 'compulsory appearance', given that she is the mother of a minor child.

Veliaj i ka mohuar akuzat përmes postimeve në Facebook nga qelia, ndërkohë që është kundërpërgjigjur me akuza ndaj prokurorit të çështjes, Ols Dado.

“Nuk kemi asnjë lidhje unë dhe familja ime me fjalën korrupsion,” shkroi Veliaj, ndërsa sulmoi prokurorin e çështjes si një  ‘individ pervers’.

Edhe kryeministri Edi Rama e mbrojti Erion Veliajn, duke e cilësuar arrestimin e tij si antikushtetues dhe akuzat si ‘roman policesk’.

“Pra, në thelb jemi përballë një rasti që krijon dyshimin e arsyeshëm të një hetimi jashtë shinave kushtetuese dhe një ndalimi në shkelje të standardeve demokratike,” tha Rama.

Ndërkohë, kryetarja e Komisionit të Ligjeve, Klotilda Bushka mohoi që t’i kishte bërë presion njërës prej dëshmitareve dhe u ankua se nuk i ishte dhënë mundësia që të dëgjohej nga SPAK.

Intimidimi i dëshmitarëve

Balkans Youth Link Albania – BYL-A – është një organizatë jofitimprurëse  e themeluar në vitin 2002 dhe njihet si organizata mëmë e lëvizjes MJAFT. BYL-A u drejtua nga Endri Fuga deri në vitin 2009 dhe për një periudhë të shkurtër pas dorëheqjes së tij, nga Klotilda Ferhati (Bushka). Bushka ka qenë gjithashtu anëtare bordi e organizatës.

Në vitin 2016, kur BYL-A ishte pothuajse një organizatë e fjetur, drejtoreshë ekzekutive u emërua kushërira e Bushkës, Ina Goxhaj. Megjithatë, Goxhaj i ka thënë  Prokurorisë se kishte vetëm emrin si drejtuese, por pa asnjë rol. Sipas SPAK, BYL-A u kontrollua fillimisht nga Klotilda Bushka dhe pas vitit 2022 nga Ajola Xoxa.

Në dëshminë e saj në SPAK më 13 dhjetor, Goxhaj tregoi për një përpjekje të koordinuar për të ndikuar deklarimet e saj si dhe për të fshehur faktet gjatë hetimit. Ajo tregoi se ishte takuar disa herë me Bushkën, Xoxën dhe disa avokatë, të cilët e kishin udhëzuar atë që të mohonte gjithçka si dhe të fshihte faktet.

Në njërin prej takimeve në shtëpinë e prindërve të Bushkës, kjo e fundit e kishte urdhëruar “që të mohonte gjithçka” gjatë pyetjes. Shqetësimi i saj lidhej gjithashtu me adresën e BYL-A, që sipas deklarueses, s’duhej të dilte që ishte shtëpia e saj.

Në një takim të dytë në një zyrë avokatore, Ajola Xoxa i kërkoi Goxhajt që t’i dorëzonte telefonin dhe më pas e ka kontrolluar atë në lidhje me bisedat që kishte – biseda që e kanë shqetësuar.

 “Deklaruesja shpjegoi se Ajola, Klotilda dhe avokati morën vendimin që ajo të mos paraqitej në Prokurorinë e Posaçme. Deklaruesja shton se Ajola Xoxa më pas i ka sjellë një telefon të ri të markës Iphone 12 dhe i ka thënë se telefonin e saj Samsung A35 do ta asgjësonin,” thuhej në vendim.

Në një takim të radhës më 14 dhjetor, Goxhaj dëshmon se ishte udhëzuar që “të bënte rezistencë dhe të mos tregonte realitetin e situatës”. Ajo gjithashtu është ndjerë në presion, pasi i kanë se ata do ta merrnin vesh se çfarë do të deklaronte dhe do rridhte informacioni, pasi kishin njerëz “brenda Prokurorisë”.

Goxhaj also testified that Bushka had contacted him again at the Ombudsman's office on January 14, 2025, and after Ballanca had left the office, had asked him if he had any concerns or if SPAK had called him again.

According to the declarant's testimony, Bushka had also told her that "Adela has brought us many consequences and is a negative person with whom we have collaborated." She had ordered her several times not to start talking to Adela or other people about the meetings she had had with her.

The Special Prosecution Office is investigating the chairwoman of the Laws Commission, Klotilda Bushka, for committing acts with the aim of obstructing the discovery of the truth, but she denied these accusations.

"Yes, I have met the girl in question as a person I once worked with and have family ties, blood ties. I have calmed her down by advising her to tell the truth and if she deems it necessary to get a lawyer," Bushka said in a statement from the Assembly.

"I did not prevent him from saying anything, nor did I attempt to hide any truth, because I am the first and most interested in the truth coming out as soon as possible," she added.

Restriction of freedom

According to SPAK, the coordinated effort to intimidate witnesses and obstruct the investigation was one of the key factors in the placement of Tirana Mayor Erjon Veliaj under the security measure of “prison arrest.” Ajola Xoxa was initially placed under house arrest because she was the mother of a minor child – a measure that was later eased to an obligation to appear after her court appearance on Wednesday.

In the request to the Court, the Special Prosecution Office assessed that there is a real and ongoing risk of manipulation or concealment of evidence if Veliaj or Xoxa are not subject to restrictions of liberty.

This risk stems from Veliaj's function as mayor of Tirana, his strong influence in the administration, as well as his behavior during the investigations, including threatening messages to BKH investigators and other interference in the process. Xoxa, on the other hand, has contacted and directed witnesses before and after questioning, influencing their statements.

The court has deemed this request by SPAK fair, arguing that the risk of obtaining and verifying the authenticity of evidence is real and ongoing if Veliaj and Xoxa are not subject to measures restricting their freedom.

"This request is argued with the aim of the Special Prosecution Office to avoid as much as possible the obstruction, slowing down or even the irregular diversion of the process of proving and verifying the circumstances of the fact related to the criminal proceedings in question," the court argues.

"This risk has proven to be tangible throughout the entire preliminary investigation up to this point, especially in relation to the persons who have been called to make statements to the proceeding body, but also with the behavior that the citizens under investigation have displayed during this period," the decision emphasizes./ BIRN