Another case has been assigned to the arrested mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj. The Court of Appeal has decided to transfer to the Special Anti-Corruption Structure the lawsuit filed by Ledion Mziu, a resident of the “5 Maji” neighborhood, regarding the forcible demolition of his apartment during the post-earthquake reconstruction project.
The case raises suspicions of criminal offenses such as "Abuse of duty", "Destruction of property", “Unlawful deprivation of liberty” and other accusations, including former senior officials of the Municipality of Tirana.
From resistance to violence: The story of Ledion Mziu and the “Wall of Shame”
I knew Ledion Mziu for his resistance against the demolition of his apartment in “Unit No. 4” in the “5 Maji” area. On January 19, 2022, he physically clashed with forces from the Inspectorate of Territorial Protection (IMT) and the “Eagle” Police Force, refusing to leave the house that had been assigned to him for demolition.
About 15 employees forcibly removed him from the roof of the house where he was tied in protest against the operation. Footage of that scene remains archived from Citizens.al's filming that day.
In November 2021, Ledioni had created a symbolic art installation called “The Wall of Shame", where he chronologically listed the VKMs and deed-agreements that forced him to hand over the apartment: 239 m² of property, of which 108.7 m² was construction and the rest was land.
Four years later, after emigrating, he seeks justice for the violence and harm his family suffered.
Today, Ledioni lives in Italy and works at a car repair shop in Genoa. Despite being in a hurry to get to work, in a phone conversation he shared with me his willingness to return and testify if Albanian justice requires it.
"It's not up to me to decide who is guilty, but I have hope and faith in justice," he stressed.
Ledioni recalled that the complaint against Veliaj and other officials was initially rejected by SPAK, after at the time director Arben Kraja argued that Veliaj had not personally signed documents, while other officials such as the former director of IMT, Mariglen Qato, were not subject to SPAK.
The file was passed to the Tirana Prosecutor's Office, which, according to him, did not investigate it for two and a half years.
"The Tirana Prosecutor's Office did not inform me at all about the progress, while I always insisted on what was being done with the case and how I could help them," Mziu emphasized on the phone.
The Mziu family currently has two open cases: an administrative process to oppose the demolition; a criminal report for use of force and violation of property, now in the hands of SPAK.
Ledioni emphasizes that his apartment was demolished while the case was still under review in the Administrative Court, describing the intervention as illegal and abusive.
"I expect those who have committed violations in my apartment and the entire 'May 5' area to be investigated, VKM 533 is illegal, because when a new development area is established, interest groups should be asked, which are the residents, who in this case were not asked," Mziu emphasizes.
In July 2025, the Mziu family settled into one of the new buildings. of the "5 May" area, but not according to the court decision. They received an area of 303 m² instead of the 462 m² that the court had determined.
"Our family has not yet signed the deed-agreement with the municipality. We were not even given the rent bonus, because according to them we applied late," he adds.
The 5th of May area, a classic case of gentrification
In submissions submitted to the court, Ledioni underlines that the reconstruction in the 5 May area has not followed the principle of involving residents and citizens.
"Instead of creating conditions for the well-being and shelter of the affected residents, multi-story buildings have been erected aimed at economic benefit for certain groups," mentioned in his file.
The design of the development of the “5 Maji” neighborhood was entrusted to the studio of Italian architect Stefano Boeri, who is currently under investigation by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office for a suspected clientelistic network between builders and local administration leaders. He is mentioned in at least three investigations into questionable urban developments.
In Tirana, the “May 5” project forcibly expropriated 222 families. The majority of residents were displaced despite rejecting agreements with the conditions offered by the Tirana Municipality.
The demolitions were carried out urgently in 2022, but the rubble was not cleared by the municipality for at least two years, raising doubts about the purpose of the project and the use of force.
Like the Kombinat area, "May 5" was also placed under development with the justification of "public interest" after the earthquake of November 26, 2019. But in practice, the neighborhoods were transformed in large construction projects, which changed the social physiognomy of the areas and increased the prices of surrounding housing.
Read also:
- The Veliaj File: Investigations, Accusations and Facts
- "Custom" road to Xoxa's palace
- "Harabel" artworks in Tirana
He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
