Veliaj responds after court decision: The lawsuit over Dado remains unexamined

Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj has issued a reaction after the Administrative Court refused to consider his request to challenge the appointment of prosecutor Olsi Dado.

Through a post on social media platforms, Veliaj relayed the statement of his legal counsel, Plarent Ndreca, who argues that the judicial body did not delve into the substance of the case at all. According to him, the object of the lawsuit was precisely to verify whether Dado had been placed in office in compliance with constitutional and legal provisions to carry out the role of prosecutor.

“Today what we had signaled earlier was confirmed: the court refused to put the matter under judicial review. Our lawsuit was not dismissed on its merits. It simply was not granted permission to be examined,” the lawyer emphasized.

Ndreca claims that Veliaj and the Municipality of Tirana were denied the right to a due legal process, on the grounds that they lack a legal interest to seek a review of the validity of a public official’s appointment.

“If a person who has been subjected to wiretapping, searches, seizures, security measures, and restrictions of personal liberty is not recognized as having a legal interest, then to whom does that interest belong?” Ndreca asked rhetorically.

According to him, this decision creates a worrying precedent in which citizens will be barred from seeking to verify the legality of the officials who exercise power over them.

Considering this an issue that transcends the individual case, the lawyer warned that the battle in the courtrooms will continue. He portrayed the conflict as a fundamental debate about the mechanisms of oversight and accountability within the justice system.

“We are no longer talking simply about a single prosecutor. This is the issue that will determine what kind of justice the Republic of Albania is choosing to build: a system that accepts self-scrutiny, or one that aims to stand above any form of constitutional oversight,” concluded the statement by lawyer Plarent Ndreca.