The Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime has handed down a 1-year and 6-month prison sentence to Fran Tuci, the former mayor of Fushë-Arrëz, for abuse of office. Additionally, Tuci has been barred from holding public office for a period of 5 years.

The former mayor and Ndoc Marku, the former administrator of the Iballë unit, faced charges of “abuse of duty” and “property destruction” related to permits they issued for a road construction project in a remote village within the region.

The Inspectorate for Territorial Defense estimated that the excavation and land leveling carried out for the privately constructed road led to damages exceeding 2 million euros.

This 1.8-kilometer road section, spanning 5 meters in width, was built without proper authorization from authorities and was undertaken by a private company. This project encroached upon a substantial portion of the municipality’s forested land and caused severe damage to the affected terrain.

Former Mayor Tuci, who was affiliated with the Socialist Party, served two terms as the local government official in Fushë-Arrëz from 2015 until a few months ago. Notably, there have been other arrests of Socialist Party mayors on corruption charges in recent months, including Safet Gjici of Kukës, who was apprehended following the release of compromising videos, and Vangjush Dako of Durrës, who faced allegations of abuse of office in multiple cases.

Furthermore, the Socialist Mayor of the Bulqiza municipality, Lefter Alla, the vice mayor, and six other municipal officials were arrested earlier this year on charges related to “unequal participation in tenders”, “abuse of duty”, and “forgery of documents and forms”.