Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting on Wednesday afternoon with the structures of the Socialist Party in Tirana, where he once again addressed SPAK (Special Prosecutor’s Office) and GJKKO (Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime) , following the arrest of Mayor Erion Veliaj two weeks ago.
Rama stated that arrest without trial is illegal, and this was confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg a day earlier with its ruling in favor of the former director of TVSH, who had previously been arrested by SPAK.
According to the Prime Minister, this ruling is a warning sign for judges, who should not align themselves with the prosecution and issue arrest warrants for individuals who are only suspects, not defendants.
“Arrest without trial is illegal. Just look at this decision from Strasbourg to understand how many illegal arrests will end up being paid by Albanian taxpayers. Why do you have to put someone in prison? To show that you’re powerful, or to prove that the court and prosecution are the same entity like in communism?”
Rama emphasized that judges must remain impartial and not act under pressure or in coordination with the prosecution.
“This is an alarm bell for judges, who are there to be impartial, not to take the side of prosecutors or to make deals out of fear, agreeing to imprison people without trial. You don’t need to take someone hostage if you haven’t even brought charges against them as a defendant,” Rama said.
