Rama-Veliaj conflict / BIRN: Executive power used for political pressure! Calls for an independent SPAK investigation

Erion Veliaj’s sudden transfer to Fier prison has brought his clash with Prime Minister Edi Rama into the open, revealing a conflict that goes beyond the future of Tirana Municipality.

Through his lawyer, Plarent Nreca, and letters sent from prison, Veliaj claims that Rama was personally involved in punishing him through the transfer to Fier.

He also says the prime minister is pressuring him to resign as mayor of Tirana through a message that, according to him, Justice Minister Toni Gogu delivered to him in prison.

According to Veliaj, Gogu visited him in prison late on Friday evening. During the meeting, he claims, he was asked on Rama’s behalf to step down, admit involvement in the Flamingo protests and dismiss his lawyer, Plarent Nreca. If he refused, Veliaj says, he was told he could face additional criminal charges.

“I reject the Bolshevik hallucinations that I organized or financed the protests… I challenge the country’s prime minister to produce even a single piece of evidence for these insinuations about the protests. Otherwise, leave!” Veliaj wrote.

Minister Gogu confirmed that he had visited the prison but categorically denied delivering any message from Rama to Veliaj. He expressed surprise at the mayor’s claims, describing them as “false fabrications.”

Asked by BIRN whether it had formally opened an investigation into the parties’ claims, SPAK replied that it had “nothing to share.”

The clash between Rama and Veliaj, once a close political ally of the prime minister, has raised questions about whether executive power is being used to exert political pressure or influence judicial proceedings.

Legal experts and civil society representatives are calling on judicial authorities to investigate Veliaj’s allegations independently. They say the case is a test of SPAK’s independence.

“Erion Veliaj’s claims must be independently verified by judicial institutions, particularly SPAK, especially when suspicions are raised that executive power may have been used to exert political pressure,” said lawyer Gentian Serjani, head of the Social Justice organization.

Serjani said he had reservations about SPAK’s involvement in cases with political dimensions, but added that this did not justify disregarding Veliaj’s claims.

“The claims made by Veliaj and his lawyer must be examined through concrete evidence, communications and relevant testimony, rather than relying solely on public statements,” he said.

Rigels Xhemollari, head of the organization Civic Resistance, is also calling for an independent investigation. He said it must be established whether the justice minister’s prison visit complied with the law.

“SPAK must examine Minister Gogu’s prison visit: did it meet the legal requirements, or was it an unlawful meeting bordering on a mafia-style encounter, as the mayor claims?” Xhemollari said.

Xhemollari stressed that the allegations must be addressed by the institutions rather than become another political confrontation. He said Veliaj’s lawyer should immediately take the claims involving the justice minister and the prime minister to SPAK instead of discussing them on television programs.

“The matter cannot remain merely part of political rhetoric and conflict; it must undergo legal and procedural scrutiny,” Xhemollari concluded.

Zef Preçi, director of the Albanian Center for Economic Research, also said that Veliaj’s allegations should be investigated independently.

“SPAK and the judicial institutions must independently verify Veliaj’s claims,” Preçi told BIRN.

He added that the case was highly sensitive for the public, as the prime minister was being accused of exerting pressure on an imprisoned person.

Preçi compared the case to that of former Socialist MP Klotilda Bushka, whom SPAK charged with obstruction of justice on suspicion of pressuring a female witness in the proceedings against Veliaj.

“In both cases, a person with substantial political power is accused of exploiting their position to influence a key individual in an ongoing criminal case. In the first case, the influence was allegedly exerted from parliament in Veliaj’s favor; now, according to the allegations, it is being exerted by the government against him,” Preçi said.

He said SPAK must investigate with the same determination.

“Only in this way can it be demonstrated that the standard against political interference in justice is applied equally, regardless of who exerts the pressure and against whom,” he concluded.