The meeting of the Mandate and Immunity Council in Albania ended without a decision regarding the request of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK) for the arrest of former Deputy Prime Minister and current Member of Parliament from the Socialist Party, Arben Ahmetaj.
However, while SPAK is seeking authorization to arrest Ahmetaj, it turns out that he is not in Albania. He left the country several days ago, before SPAK’s request reached the Albanian Parliament on 7 July.
This fact was confirmed by his lawyer Henrik Ligori, during a closed-door meeting of the Mandate and Immunity Council, while the leader of the Democratic Party group Gazment Bardhi made the news public.
“His lawyer confirmed during the session, when asked by the opposition, that Arben Ahmetaj is not in Albania. According to him, he has not fled but has left the country, and he said he does not know where he is,” Bardhi said.
SPAK accuses the former Deputy Prime Minister of passive corruption, money laundering, and failure to declare or conceal assets and is seeking authorization from the Albanian Parliament for his arrest.
After four hours of debate in the closed-door session, the meeting was decided to be postponed, in order to give the defense lawyers of Arben Ahmetaj the time they requested to familiarize themselves with the 400-page case file of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Gazment Bardhi, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party, told journalists that the decision was taken without a vote by the Socialist representatives in the Mandate and Immunity Council. According to him, the postponement of the decision is being done to “protect” Ahmetaj.
“It was an unconstitutional and illegal attempt by the majority to give time to Ahmetaj, and the postponement of the meeting was decided. This is assistance that the majority is giving Ahmetaj to evade justice. The postponement of the decision is an attempt to likely delay the authorization for his arrest for another week,” Bardhi said.
After the meeting, no member of the Mandate and Immunity Council from the parliamentary majority made any statements. Meanwhile, the next meeting of this council is scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Investigations against Arben Ahmetaj began in 2022, and the Special Prosecutor’s Office emphasizes that “the investigation continues regarding other criminal facts or other individuals involved”.
The prosecutor’s investigation against the former Deputy Prime Minister has revealed undeclared properties and investments over a 20-year period, as well as substantial payments received as bribes from businessmen involved in incinerators worth 491,000 euros, as well as villas on the coast and apartments in Tirana. Ahmetaj is being investigated for six corruption cases.
In 2015, the Government of Albania awarded a contract for the construction of the Elbasan incinerator through an emergency procedure.
Arben Ahmetaj was summoned for the first time to SPAK on June 22, 2023, and was questioned for about six hours as a person under investigation.
Ahmetaj has held several important positions during the ten years of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government. He has been the Director of Taxes, Minister of Economy and Entrepreneurship, Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Reconstruction.
