The preliminary hearing for the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, and other defendants, held today at the Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SCAC), has been postponed to December 2, 2025.
The hearing was expected to decide on the launch of the judicial investigation, but the postponement was decided after Veliaj’s lawyers requested more time to familiarize themselves with the investigation documents.
The lawyers also requested that their client be able to review the documentation himself in prison and use a laptop to read the materials. The SPAK prosecutor reacted by emphasizing that Veliaj and his defense are already familiar with the acts and that the request cannot be used to avoid appearing in court.
Veliaj Veliaj was arrested on February 10, 2025 and has been in detention since then.
SPAK has filed four serious charges against the mayor of Bahia, including passive corruption in 9 cases, money laundering, concealment of assets and bringing illegal items into prison. His wife, Ajola Xoxa, is also involved in the investigation for corruption, money laundering and concealment of assets.
According to investigations, Veliaj and his wife were involved in a complicated mechanism, where public funds from the Municipality of Tirana were suspiciously allocated to businesses and organizations related to their family.
One of the concrete cases is related to businessman Mirton Lika, who made an office in the “Sky Tower” building available to Ajola Xoxa with a “user loan” contract, which investigators consider suspicious and for the purpose of money laundering.
Several well-known business names in Tirana have also been involved in the same issue.
While SPAK’s accusations are based on connections between the municipality, businessmen and companies associated with Ajola Xoxa, the mayor continues to deny any involvement.
“This is a Kafkaesque process,” Veliaj has declared in previous hearings, but his efforts to regain his freedom have failed at every judicial level so far.
Gazetare në “Rrjetin e Raportimit të Krimit të Organizuar dhe Korrupsionit në Shqipëri”- RRKOKSH.
