Salianji had served two-thirds of his sentence for false reporting in the well-known “Babale” case and had three months remaining.

Salianji was arrested on September 27, 2024, after alleging the involvement of the brother of former Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj in drug trafficking.

His lawyer, Ledio Braho, described the sentence as political and stated Salianji would be released within the day.

Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha also reacted, calling the sentence political and claiming it aimed to silence the truth about traffickers connected to the government.

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Supreme Court also rejected a related appeal filed by investigative journalist Jetmir Olldashi against an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeals.

Salianji was convicted for making fabricated accusations in the so-called “Babale” case, marking a significant legal action against a sitting MP.

The Supreme Court held the hearing in a consulting room, in absence of lawyers.

In September 2024, the Court of Appeals in Tirana had upheld the one-year prison sentence of the former DP MP Ervin Salianji, confirming the lower court’s ruling.

Salianji is currently serving his sentence in Fier prison since September 27, 2024, after being convicted of making false accusations.

In a statement via the social media, former opposition lawmaker Salianji said he was not surprised by the Supreme Court’s ruling, claiming that the verdict was politically motivated and was designed to eliminate him from the political battle.

Salianji vowed to take the case to the Strasbourg case, saying he will not cease seeking justice.

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The request reads that the Court of Appeal’s ruling for the 1-year prison sentence of MP Ervin Salianji is a political act.

“As an act of political revenge, by decision of September 26, 2024, the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction has ordered imprisonment of a member of the Parliament of Albania, an official of the opposition, colleague Ervin Salianji, for an uncommitted crime and for a fabricated case by certain segments of the State Police and the Prosecutor’s Office,” the request reads.

In the request, it is emphasized that this political act, which violates the foundations of the democratic state, affects the integrity of the Assembly of Albania and violates the mandate of an opposition MP.

“This is an extra-legal procedure. The Prosecutor’s Office is following the procedure for the arrest of the opposition MP without the authorization of the Assembly. According to Article 73, point 2, “The MP cannot be arrested or deprived of his liberty in any form, or be subject to a personal or house search, without the authorization of the Assembly”, the request emphasized.

In the request, it is underlined that these actions of the justice bodies, which violate the basic principles of the rule of law, have created an alarming situation of political attack on the opposition. /p.s./

“We thought we would gain a maximum number of votes if we were to run separately. This is because the SMI is a left-wing party. The parties included in the DP-led coalition have received a very small number of votes, but they would have gained a lot more if they were to run separately,” Salianji said.

“Citizens have been under pressure. SMI has been under pressure. If SMI was to be included on the DP list, it would have received fewer votes,” he said.

He added that the main opposition DP would follow legal procedures to complain over the elections, saying that the number of invalid votes is incredibly high.

“As far as we know, massive vote-stealing and vote-buying has been widespread in many districts across the country. We have referred and reported many alleged vote-buying cases to the special anti-corruption prosecution office SPAK,” Salianji noted.

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