“The reasoning has gone beyond the law” — High Court keeps Veliaj in jail; lawyer Ndreca: the elected official’s mandate is being violated

Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj will remain in the pre-trial detention cell, by decision of the High Court.

The latter, despite the Constitutional Court’s request to argue the proportionality of the “arrest with imprisonment” measure against the mandate as mayor, was not persuaded to release Veliaj.

Veliaj’s lawyer, Plarent Ndreca, part of last night’s panel on “Opinion”, said that the High Court’s reasoning has now gone beyond the law.

Ndreca said that Erion Veliaj is being denied, without legal arguments, the exercise of the mandate of municipal chairman, while on the other hand citizens are being denied governance by the one elected through the vote.

“The argument relates to the fact that Veliaj, like any citizen, must meet several criteria set in criminal procedure. The suspicion must be based on evidence for a security measure to be taken. To go to arrest with imprisonment, which is extreme, there must be high social dangerousness, there must be reasonable suspicions that he could tamper with the investigation’s evidence, or a danger of committing the same or a graver offense. The public interest must also be examined, which is the citizens’ right to be governed by the one elected through the vote. The courts have not taken this side of the balance into consideration,” the lawyer said.

Ndreca continued his argument further:

“He should have been allowed the possibility to exercise his duty. The investigation has been completed for a year, practically there is no risk at all… A member of the Constitutional Court says there is no evidence at all. As long as the Constitutional Court has paved the way, telling the High Court what democracy means, the local elected official, the importance of not violating the mandate — these are reasons beyond the law; it is futile to look for the reasons in the decision.”

Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj has been in a cell since February 10, 2025, and his substantive trial has begun.

SPAK accuses Veliaj of 13 charges, including passive corruption, money laundering, failure to declare assets, abuse of office and bringing items into prison — which the mayor has denied.