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VOA: Rama leaves Veliaj out of frontline engagement for upcoming political elections

Politiko 2024-12-06 20:32:41

VOA: Rama leaves Veliaj out of frontline engagement for upcoming political

In Albania, by order of the Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime, judicial police officers conducted searches at the offices of the company of the wife of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, while they had previously seized his mobile phone. Searches were also conducted at the apartment of Mr. Veliaj's brother. The Special Prosecution itself did not provide details, but sufficed to explain that it had carried out several "investigative actions within the framework of a criminal proceeding". A property investigation has been launched against Mr. Veliaj, while his role in the Tirana incinerator case as well as in the "5D" company, which was owned by former directors of the Municipality, is also being examined.

BKH judicial police officers appeared this morning at the apartment of Mayor Erion Veliaj, while the latter was in Germany for an official visit, as he later announced in a Facebook post. It is learned that officers of the National Bureau of Investigation have seized the mobile phone of Ajola Xoxe, Mr. Veliaj's wife.

Later, it is learned that judicial police officers have also carried out searches in the building in the center of Tirana, where the offices of Ms. Xoxe's company, which carries out activities in the field of art and the organization of various events, are located. They also carried out searches in the apartment of the mayor's brother. Mr. Veliaj himself has not yet made any comment on today's developments.

The checks were conducted based on an order from the Special Court, while the Prosecution itself stated that it cannot provide details since it is in the preliminary phase of the investigation and that today it had carried out several "investigative actions within the framework of a criminal proceeding."

At the end of April this year, Mr. Veliaj was summoned to the Special Prosecutor's Office where he stayed for more than 7 hours to give explanations about the Tirana incinerator. Upon leaving, Mr. Veliaj reiterated that the Municipality he heads had nothing to do with the incinerator process.

At the end of last year, the most important director of the Municipality, Taulant Tusha, was arrested as part of the investigation into the Tirana waste treatment plant, while a few months later, Mr. Veliaj received another blow when two former directors of the Municipality were arrested in March. Four others were given lighter measures. The Prosecution's suspicions were that the two directors, Redi Molla and Maringlen Qato, owned a private company through which they had benefited from public funds from the Municipality of Tirana.

A wealth investigation has been underway for several months against Mr. Veliaj and his immediate family members.

This situation seems to have been the main reason why he was shunned by the political leadership of the socialist party in Tirana, and was left out of a front-line engagement for the upcoming political elections. VOA