FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Lawyers for Mayor Erion Veliaj have expressed concern that SPAK is turning the process into a public trial. They claim that the Special Prosecution Office is using its media to make a show of Veliaj's case in flagrant violation of the law.
They say that since his arrest, the mayor has been held in total isolation and harsh and unacceptable conditions, which do not reflect the level of a country moving towards EU integration.
They even point out that the way the SPAK is prosecuting the mayor has set Albania back in its EU integration. They also point out the "commissioned articles" in media outlets affiliated with the Prosecutor's Office, with the aim of building a narrative to achieve a public trial against the first citizen of Tirana.
Full statement from Veliaj's lawyers:
We, the defense lawyers of Mr. Erion Veliaj, express our deep concern about the repeated attempts to transform a criminal proceeding into a spectacular public trial through the use of SPAK-affiliated media and flagrant violations of the law, such as the illegal disclosure of investigative secrets.
The commissioned articles, presented as “exclusive revelations,” do not aim to uncover the truth, but to build a ready-made public narrative before the case is proven with facts in a courtroom. In recent days, other details have been released to the media, including regarding witness testimonies.
In a democratic and European state, justice is administered within the institutions of justice, not in newspaper headlines, social networks or “crime series” produced by controlled media through anonymous and illegal leaks. Even more worrying is the fact that these leaks occur during the preliminary investigation phase, which is under the mandatory protection of the body that administers it, the prosecution. It is here that the failure is irrefutable: not only has the integrity of the procedure not been protected, but the principle of investigative secrecy has been seriously violated, turning the process into a public farce.
We are documenting every act that not only distorts this criminal proceeding, but also seriously violates the constitutional order and European standards of justice on which Albania's path to membership in the European Union rests. This case represents a distinct and desperate regression to a pre-democratic era.
Mr. Veliaj is the legitimate and democratically elected Mayor of Tirana, voted for by over 160,000 citizens. Although his rights, as well as those of the citizens he represents, are protected by the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, he continues to be held in total isolation, under harsh and unjustified restrictive conditions, which prevent him from exercising his duties as Mayor.
We are convinced that when this prosecution is brought before an impartial tribunal, it will collapse and be revealed for what it truly is, a prosecution that has fundamentally set back Albania's progress towards compliance with European standards of justice and the rule of law, while simultaneously denying the citizens of Tirana the service of their Mayor and causing great harm to Tirana and its citizens.
Lini një Përgjigje