Despite political pressure and rallies organized by Municipality employees and members of the Socialist Party, the Special Court decided on Wednesday to keep in prison the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, who is being investigated for corruption and money laundering.
Considered the second most powerful man in the Socialist Party, having led the largest municipality in the country since 2015, Veliaj became among the first politicians to be arrested in office.
With this act, SPAK showed that no one in power is immune to justice.
However, the issue he is facing is far from the public accusations that have accompanied him during his three terms as mayor.
Veliaj is suspected of receiving 1.1 million euros in corruption money, poured into the coffers of his wife Ajola Xoxa's artistic NGOs for tenders and construction permits granted in favor of six entrepreneurs.
This issue certainly reflects an aspect of abuse of power, but it does not force Veliaj to account for the misgovernance of the capital.
Since 2015, Tirana has been up for auction, millions of square meters of construction have been added every year, while thousands of citizens have been forcibly evicted from their homes in favor of dubious projects that have turned the city into a construction site.
Over 500,000 m2 Green spaces have disappeared, along with promises of an orbital forest. Dozens of cultural monument homes have been destroyed.
The municipality has collected hundreds of millions of euros in taxes from construction, the sale of public land, and the increase in local taxes, but has not purchased any space to transform into green space for citizens.
Meanwhile, journalists who have denounced corruption have been attacked and threatened.
Violent evictions (Selitë, Shkozë, Unazë e Madhe, 5 Maj, Kombinat)
Under Veliaj's leadership, Tirana has experienced aggressive urban development with significant social consequences.
During 2016-2018, residents of Unaza e Madhe, Shkoza, and Selita experienced massive demolitions of homes without consultation and without decent compensation according to market value.
The scheme was the same: under the pretext of public projects, residents who contested the expropriations were forcibly removed, just as those whose legalization process was interrupted.
The residents' continued protests did not stop the municipality's officials, who rushed to make way for new constructions such as Tirana Riverside, or KombinArt.
In the areas of Kombinat, Astir and "5 Maji", the process was more brutal: tear gas and police violence.
Veliaj considered the consequences of the 2019 earthquake as an "opportunity for development" by opening construction sites and forcibly relocating entire communities.
Around 1,700 families were added to the list of homeless people who still wander among bureaucracy and unfulfilled promises.
National Theater
Veliaj publicly advocated for the demolition of the National Theater. He ignored citizens, artists, and international organizations who called for the preservation of the building for its historical values.
In 2018, the Socialist Party used the power of cardboard to pass an unconstitutional law that guaranteed the company "Fusha shpk" public land without competition, in exchange for the construction of the new Theater.
The law provided for building permits for six towers, three of which were on the theater's property.
This plan was strongly opposed by a group of artists and engaged citizens.
The PPP negotiations were led by Veliaj, as head of the municipality. But in February 2020, without providing convincing explanations, the municipality withdrew from the PPP with Fusha.
However, the government did not back down from the demolition of the theater, which was carried out three months later with hundreds of police forces, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
The action was accompanied by police violence, tear gas, and numerous arrests of artists and citizens who had been opposing it for two years.
in December 2022 , it was decided that the Theater would be built with taxpayers' money, while Shkëlqim Fusha still obtained permission to build a tower. 33 floors support.
In SPAK's preliminary investigations into Veliaj, entrepreneur Fusha turns out to be one of six businessmen suspected of corrupting the mayor by "sponsoring" the OFJ of his wife Ajola Xoxa.
This reinforces the idea that when it comes to the issue of theater, the interest in the public good was never Veliaj's first priority.
Tirana Incinerator: Major Corruption
The contract for the construction of the Tirana incinerator marks one of the most serious financial affairs in recent years. The project, which was presented as a solution for waste management, turned out to be a fraud scheme that embezzled tens of millions of euros of public money.
Even though the incineration plant was never built, citizens were forced to pay for a service that does not exist.
SPAK's investigations have uncovered secret financial and property connections, targeting the ultimate owners behind the "offshore" concessionaire, Klodian Zoto and Mirel Mërtiri, who remain wanted.
Veliaj began his first term as mayor of Tirana by promoting recycling and waste separation at source.
Earlier, when he was an activist for "Mjaft" in the early 2000s, he protested fervently against an incineration plant in Sharra.
But it turns out that in 2016 he was the one who recommended the concession of the Sharra landfill and, in violation of his powers, guaranteed funding for all municipalities in the region.
About a decade later, the Sharra landfill still does not have an incinerator, although with increased cleaning fees, Tirana has paid over 70 million euros just for treating waste with a process that does not occur.
Moreover, Veliaj has "forgotten" recycling and separation at source. For a while, his administration even persecuted waste collectors.
But, as if to show the real situation, in the summer of 2024 the capital was involved in a waste management crisis, which the municipality tried to hide.
In addition to the Zoto-Mërtiri duo, SPAK has also accused 13 officials in this matter, including former Minister of Environment, Lefter Koka, former SP MP, Alqi Bllako, and former director of the Municipality of Tirana, Taulant Tusha.
Despite this, Veliaj managed to escape investigation.
"5D": Business with public money
The case known as "5D" is one of the biggest corruption scandals in the Tirana Municipality administration. Several former directors are accused of feeding public tenders to a company of which they themselves were the secret owners.
Redi Molla and Mariglen Qato, with long careers as managers in several municipal departments, are suspected of creating the company "5D Konstruksion" in 2016 through close associates.
By 2022, “5D Konstruksion” would be declared the winner in at least 32 public tenders with a total investment value of around 30 million euros. SPAK has found violations in almost half of these tenders.
Investigations showed that 11 tenders were awarded by the directorates where Molla and Qato were heads or had influence on the bid evaluation committees through other Tirana municipality officials such as Taulant Tusha, Eglantina Zere and Enton Punavija.
From the tenders with "5D", Molla had become a strategic investor in at least one 5-star hotel in Durrës, in partnership with another former municipal director, Elvin Tivari.
In December 2024, SPAK completed the investigations and sent them to trial, charging them with corruption, concealment of assets, and money laundering.
Veliaj, as head of the Tirana Municipality, publicly confronted this issue during the 2023 electoral campaign. But he denied the existence of this corrupt scheme.
A year later, when SPAK confirmed the arrests of five former directors, he distanced himself from responsibility, even though at least two of his closest associates in electoral campaigns, Qato and Tusha, were implicated.
This scandal has deeply damaged public trust in the transparency of public procurement and in the integrity of the Municipality of Tirana.
Persecution of the homeless and street vendors
In his first term as mayor, Veliaj was noted for his persecution of the homeless, beggars, and street vendors.
His administration imposed thousands of fines with the aim of achieving the mayor's aesthetic vision of sidewalks free of village produce and unfortunate beggars.
From 2018 to 2021, the municipality focused on 4,300 fines, with a total value of over 42 million lekë.
The municipal police also intensified checks on the suburban streets, removing and punishing hundreds of street vendors. The actions often escalated into arbitrary actions by the police, who confiscated the vendors' goods.
This approach faced strong criticism from civil society as it further strained the livelihoods of hundreds of families who depended on informal trade.
Activists have compared this treatment to past persecutions, highlighting the lack of employment alternatives and social support from the municipality.
Tirana without water and schools on shifts
In his first term, Veliaj promised to provide the capital with 24-hour drinking water and end school shifts. He justified this by increasing the price of water and imposing a tax on school infrastructure.
However, most areas in Tirana do not yet have uninterrupted supply, some even suffer from water shortages during the summer. Furthermore, the water is not drinkable and most citizens buy it.
Veliaj and UKT justified themselves by saying that the problem for this area is the impurities in the deposits, while the municipality itself does not consume tap water because the administration continues to hold tenders for bottled water.
A similar situation, without significant changes, is presented with schools.
Veliaj has portrayed himself as the mayor who has built dozens of schools and hundreds of kindergartens and nurseries, but in ten years he has not been able to solve shift teaching.
Since 2016, Tirana families and businesses have paid around 60 million euros in taxes for educational infrastructure. Despite this, the municipality has pinned its hopes mostly on EU funds, reconstruction funds, or donations from other countries.
Shift learning It remains an era that never ends as 30 schools follow the same practice.
Attacks on journalists and ready-made tapes
In three terms, Veliaj has been known for his poor relations with the media and journalists. He has been criticized in international reports, as well as by other media organizations, for his intimidating and threatening language.
In addition to direct attacks on journalists, his approach to the media has been usurping and the Tirana municipality is among the most closed institutions to the press.
In three terms, Veliaj has not made any press releases, and the first time he spoke to journalists was when he was summoned to SPAK. But on the other hand, he has a high presence in the media through materials produced by his press office.
Tirana Municipality is known for its ready-made cassettes. A Citizens study for local news revealed that Tirana is a fabricated cityMany of the materials broadcast on television, taken into study, had the same images, the same titles and the same text.
In 2016, a team of investigative journalists uncovered the cover-up of the accident involving 17-year-old Ardit Gjoklaj, involving Veliaj, a name that would accompany him for years.
Journalist Alida Tota, who worked on the documentary, was fired from A1 TV and accused Veliaj of interfering in her dismissal.
The same fate befell journalist Artan Rama, then the host of the Publicus show on Vizion Plus. He worked on the same event and announced that the television station blocked his broadcast.
Veliaj he threatened the leaders of the two online sites Lolita and JOQ. In a media appearance, he published the names and private information of two people who he said are their leaders.
The mayor's name was also mentioned in the case of Agon Channel. In 2014, this television station questioned the abuse of Veliaj's wedding in the Gjirokastra castle. At the time, he was Minister of Social Welfare and allegations were made of threats against journalist Sonila Meço.
Another censorship attempt was the case of journalist Beti Njuma, who was reporting for the National Theater. Veliaj asked the owner of Ora News via private messages to stop the journalist from reporting on the case.
Two Ora News journalists, Isa Myzyraj and Ronaldo Sharka, were threatened and physically attacked by Veliaj's entourage as they attempted to obtain comments from him.
In the year 2023 Veliaj directly attacked journalist Ola Xama after an investigation he had conducted into the Tirana incinerator issue, which also revealed his involvement. The mayor used insulting and threatening language, labeling Xama "hitman".
A city in all-round crisis
Tirana today is a city in crisis, and the crisis is not only urban or ecological, but also moral and institutional.
The capital suffers from memory loss, having 36 fewer cultural monuments, which in most cases were captured from the tower.
"Zero concrete" was Veliaj's promise in his first mayoral campaign, but Tirana turned into the capital of construction. In his second term, the average one permit every 42 hours.
SPAK has raised suspicions that Veliaj allegedly received money from six entrepreneurs in exchange for permits.
His arrest is not an isolated act, but a reflection of a system that has allowed impunity.
For years, corruption and clientelism have held back the development of Tirana, transforming it into a bleak space where, in addition to the urban aspect, meritocracy and hope for a better future have been killed.
He completed master's studies in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Journalism at the University of Tirana. She has been working as a journalist for five years, where she previously covered issues of politics and parliamentary activity, in print and online media. She is currently a journalist at Citizens.al, where she covers various social issues related to the transparency of institutions. At Citizens.al, she leads the podcast "The Unheard" and is engaged as a manager of projects related to the support of investigative journalism.
