International lawyers representing Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj have reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the pretrial detention measure against him.
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Daniel J. Fetterman, the lead international lawyer, said the decision raises questions about the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which had previously called for the Supreme Court’s decision to be annulled and the case to be reconsidered.
“The decision of Albania’s Supreme Court is Kafkaesque and raises a serious question: does constitutional review in Albania have any meaning if the constitutional deficiencies identified by the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, are not corrected by the lower courts?” he said.
According to him, the Constitutional Court had requested an assessment of the proportionality of the pretrial detention, the possibility of less restrictive measures, and the consequences of preventing Veliaj from exercising his mandate as mayor.
“Mayor Veliaj has now spent more than 19 months in pretrial detention, without any trial or conviction. Constitutional rights cannot exist only on paper, and constitutional review cannot become an exercise without practical consequences. The rule of law depends not only on constitutional courts issuing rulings, but also on the meaningful implementation of those rulings,” he added.
He added that the defense would pursue all available legal avenues, emphasizing that constitutional guarantees must have practical effect and must not remain merely on paper.
Full statement:
Albania’s Supreme Court keeps Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj in pretrial detention after the Constitutional Court annulled the Supreme Court’s previous decision
Albania’s Supreme Court ruled on September 15 that Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj should remain in pretrial detention, upholding the March 13, 2025, decision of the Special Court of Appeal. The decision follows a ruling by Albania’s Constitutional Court, which annulled the Supreme Court’s previous decision on Mayor Veliaj’s pretrial detention and sent the case back for reconsideration.
The Constitutional Court found that the Supreme Court’s previous decision had failed to conduct the constitutional review required on important issues related to the continuation of Mayor Veliaj’s pretrial detention, including its proportionality and the constitutional consequences of preventing Tirana’s democratically elected mayor from exercising the mandate entrusted to him by the city’s voters. The Constitutional Court returned the case to the Supreme Court for further review.
Mayor Veliaj has been in pretrial detention since February 10, 2025, for more than 19 months, and remains Tirana’s elected mayor. In a separate ruling last year, the Constitutional Court declared invalid an attempt to dismiss him from office because of his involuntary absence while he was in pretrial detention.
Daniel J. Fetterman, a partner at Kasowitz LLP and Mayor Veliaj’s lead international lawyer, said:
“The decision of Albania’s Supreme Court is Kafkaesque and raises a serious question: does constitutional review in Albania have any meaning if the constitutional deficiencies identified by the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, are not corrected by the lower courts?
“Albania’s Constitutional Court annulled the Supreme Court’s previous decision and sent this case back for review because the substantive examination required by the Constitution had not been conducted regarding the proportionality of Mayor Veliaj’s pretrial detention, less restrictive measures, and the consequences of preventing Tirana’s elected mayor from exercising the mandate granted to him by the people of Tirana.
“Mayor Veliaj has now spent more than 19 months in pretrial detention, without any trial or conviction. Constitutional rights cannot exist only on paper, and constitutional review cannot become an exercise without practical consequences. The rule of law depends not only on constitutional courts issuing rulings, but also on the meaningful implementation of those rulings.
“Therefore, this case raises a much broader institutional question: whether Albania’s justice system respects the rule of law when constitutional protections require a different course of action, and whether the Constitutional Court’s decisions have any practical meaning.
“Albania’s institutions still have the opportunity to demonstrate that constitutional guarantees are enforceable and not merely aspirations. We will continue to pursue every legal avenue available to Mayor Veliaj and insist on proceedings consistent with these principles.”
The Supreme Court’s public notice, dated September 15, states that the Court upheld the March 13, 2025, decision of the Special Court of Appeal. The notice does not yet contain the Court’s full written reasoning and emphasizes that the reasoned decision will be communicated to the parties in accordance with the Court’s procedures.
The issues related to Mayor Veliaj’s pretrial detention arise in a broader procedural context. Kasowitz previously reported that information made public by court order indicated that the SPAK investigation appeared to have begun with anonymous complaints attributed to “Nesti Agoni” and “Nasta Pëllumbi,” neither of whom appeared in Albania’s National Civil Status Register. Mayor Veliaj has also filed a separate challenge concerning whether lead prosecutor Ols Dado met the legal requirements governing his appointment. These issues are separate from the Supreme Court’s September 15 decision on the pretrial detention.
