Ahmetaj accuses Rama of prison elimination plan: Veliaj celebrated with whiskey after arrest warrant

Former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj has levelled accusations against Prime Minister Edi Rama and former Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj over the incinerators case and the arrest warrant issued against him. In an interview on the programme “Çim Peka Live”, he said that the procedures concerning the Elbasan and Fier incinerators were used to make him a “scapegoat”, while denying responsibility for the decisions attributed to him.

Ahmetaj focused on the documents relating to the Elbasan incinerator, stressing that 17 decisions had been made in the case. “Seventeen decisions, one after another, for the Elbasan incinerator! What did I do? I did not sign these things. We move on to the Fier incinerator — do you see the name Arben Ahmetaj anywhere? Why? Because the head of the organization wanted a scapegoat,” he said.

During the interview, the former deputy prime minister also made a claim about Erion Veliaj, saying that the former mayor had celebrated after the arrest warrant against him was made public. “When my name came up for arrest, Erion Veliaj opened a bottle of whiskey. They would celebrate, they would open another bottle too, when I, in prison, because of my hot temper, would have been eliminated,” Ahmetaj said.

He claimed that a plan had been drawn up to eliminate him during the time he would spend in prison, linking this scenario to the person he referred to as “the head of the organization”. Ahmetaj also mentioned the Fier incinerator and other people connected to the case. His statements constitute personal claims and have not been proven as facts by a court.