Uljan Shpataraku in court: I don’t know Ergys Agasi; I picked him up on the road after he hitchhiked and told me his name was “Berti

The ruling of the Special Court, which imposed the security measure of “imprisonment” on former Elbasan police director Uljan Shpataraku, has been made public.

What stands out in this court ruling, obtained by journalist Elton Qyno, is Shpataraku’s account, which surprised the judge and prosecutors attending the hearing.

According to detainee Shpataraku, he had no prior acquaintance with Ergys Agasi, and their meeting on the day of the arrest occurred by chance on the road.

He told the hearing that he met Agasi by chance on the old Elbasan road and picked him up after he hitchhiked. According to Shpataraku, when the man got into the car, he introduced himself as “Berti.”

“…I was returning from the old Elbasan road. During the journey, a person waved at me and I picked him up in the car. This person told me his name was ‘Berti’ and that he worked with aluminum. Near Plepat, in Durrës, the police stopped us. That is where I learned that the person I had picked up was Ergys Agasi…” former Elbasan police director Shpataraku told the court.

According to the version he gave in court, which was evidently not believed by the judge in the case, he had no prior acquaintance with Agasi.

He went on to give the following account:

“…I do not know Ergys Agasi. I was traveling by car toward Elbasan when a person raised his hand to hitchhike. I picked him up because I am a believer and I am not afraid of people who are in need on the road…”

Despite this testimony, he did not escape the security measure of “imprisonment” imposed by the Special Court on charges of “assisting the perpetrator of a crime.”

Meanwhile, to disprove the version given by Shpataraku, SPAK has ordered a computer forensic examination of his two seized iPhones, confiscated during the operation at the end of August 2026 in Durrës, where the former police official was arrested in the same car as Ergys Agasi.

The two phones are reportedly encrypted. SPAK has also focused on the conversations Shpataraku and Ergys Agasi had on Signal.

According to sources, as they were leaving the Bradashesh area, Shpataraku noticed a drone in the air following them. At that moment, he told Ergys Agasi to drive faster in order to evade the pursuit.

Agasi, however, assured him that there was no danger because he had been told that everything was under control. But in the Plepat area of Durrës, their car was stopped by police, leading to the arrest of wanted individual Ergys Agasi and former police official Uljan Shpataraku. /[redacted]