Veliaj seeks immediate release, defense: Supreme Court should change the security measure and remove him from the glass cage

Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj has turned to the Supreme Court with a request to change the security measure of “prison arrest,” seeking his immediate release and a substantive review of his claims, without sending the case back for retrial in the lower courts.

As Anila Hoxha reports, in the arguments presented in the request for reconsideration, the defense claims that the case is mainly legal and constitutional in nature, and that the Supreme Court therefore has the authority to resolve it definitively, since no new evidence or reassessment of the facts is needed.

According to the defense, the court must assess whether the “prison arrest” measure remains necessary and proportionate, whether procedural risks have been argued concretely, and whether alternative security measures have been seriously considered.

The request also raises the issue of Veliaj being kept in a glass cage during court hearings. The defense argues that this practice violates human dignity and runs counter to the principle of the presumption of innocence, asking for him to be removed from the “cage” during judicial proceedings.

Another argument concerns the mayoral mandate. According to the defense, Veliaj was elected to a four-year term, from June 2023 to June 2027, and the continuation of his arrest is making it practically impossible for him to perform his duties. This, it says, affects not only Veliaj’s personal freedom, but also the right of the citizens who voted for their representative.

The defense warns that sending the case back for reconsideration in the lower courts would cause further procedural delays, risking that any final decision would be issued only after a significant part of the mandate had elapsed, which would make the effective restoration of the allegedly violated rights impossible.

For these reasons, the defense is asking the Supreme Court to exercise its authority, change the security measure, and order the immediate release of Erion Veliaj.