Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation have arrested the former Mayor of the municipality of Kukës, Safet Gjici, on charges of passive corruption.
Gjici was arrested on Saturday by the police while he was in a local establishment near his house.
Sources indicate that the Court against Crime and Organized Corruption has ordered his arrest.
A few days ago, the National Bureau of Investigation seized the security camera server in the Kukës Municipality, as part of the investigations launched against the former mayor.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office had initiated criminal proceedings against the mayor of Kukës Municipality, Safet Gjici, after a video recording emerged in social media on June 16, depicting Gjici during intimate moments with a woman in his municipal office.
Said woman, identified as Alma Kaçi has also been placed under arrest for active corruption, citing Article 245 of the Albanian Penal Code, as Gjici promised her a tender for the castration of dogs in the municipality he ran, in exchange for sexual favors.
The case is being investigated by the Special Anti-Corruption Structure prosecutor, Manjola Kajana.
Gjici offered his resignation after the video scandal broke out, calling it a “trap prepared in details by his political opponents”.
He admitted to having an intimate relation with the girl depicted alongside him in the two-minute-long video that rapidly spread throughout social media, emphasizing that the act is unjustifiable, hence offering his resignation.
On that same day, the Government of Albania went ahead and decided on Gjici’s discharge from office, with the Minister of Economy confirming the news.
Safet Gjici was reaffirmed mayor of Kukës after the May 14th local elections in Albania.
Running under the Socialist Party banner, Gjici managed to gather 49.7% of the vote in the local election, whereas his opponents, namely Admir Sinamati from the “Together We Win” coalition got 40.98% and Abedin Oruçi from the Party for Europeanization and Integration of Albania got 9.31% of the vote.
Safet Gjici was the SP candidate in the municipality of Kamza in the 2015 local elections, losing those elections to the Democratic Party candidate, Xhelal Mziu.
Gjici was subsequently elected in the 2019 mayoral election of Kukës and won.
Aside from being involved in politics, Gjici is also a businessman and president of the Albanian Superliga football club FK Kukësi.
