TIRANA, February 9 /ATA/ The Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime (SCOC) decided today to send for trial the case against Mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj, his wife Ajola Xoxa and other defendants.
Judge Etleva Deda delivered the ruling today in a hearing attended only by the defendant’s counsel Valentina Teodorescu, as reported by media outlets.
Veliaj’s defense opposed the process, claiming that he had been denied the right to an effective defense and that around 60 thousand pages of investigative materials had not been analyzed.
According to SPAK, Veliaj faces 13 charges such as passive corruption in 9 cases, money laundering, failure to declare assets, abuse of office and bringing items into prison.
Veliaj has been in pre-trial detention in prison for a year. He was detained on February 10, 2025. /m.q/j.p/p.s./
