VLEN has responded through a statement to the media following Artan Grubi’s release from house arrest and last night’s celebrations, InfoShqip.com reports.
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The party says that although the former DUI official is no longer under house arrest, he cannot be considered completely free. According to VLEN, regardless of possible deals, DUI’s old connections in the justice system or contacts with underworld networks, Grubi will have to face the consequences of his actions in power for a long time to come.
VLEN stresses that an indictment has been filed against him and that, even if Përparim Bajrami is willing to sacrifice himself for him, it will remain a heavy burden for Grubi. The statement also raises the question of why, after a year on the run, he turned himself in at the border and ended up under house arrest only. According to the party, the maximum period for extending his detention had expired, while Grubi can now move only within Skopje and must report to court regularly. For this limited freedom, it adds, he has provided a guarantee of 350,000 euros.
VLEN describes the celebration organized by around ten supporters with flares as a spectacle, claiming that Grubi’s frightened and pale appearance said more than any statement could. The party also criticizes Bujar Osmani, who, it says, attempted during an interview to walk back the statements he made against Grubi during the local election campaign. VLEN says that Osmani went from being a former foreign minister to playing the role of a cheerleader for a person on the US blacklist.
The statement also highlights the absence of “Ali Ahmeti’s torch.” According to VLEN, Ahmeti repeatedly tried, through his statements, but without success, to present as his own achievement the replacement of house arrest with less restrictive measures for his closest former associate and uncrowned heir. “Could it be that Artan Grubi has been tasked with splitting DUI in two?” VLEN asks.
Nevertheless, VLEN wishes Grubi good health and stamina, expressing its expectation that he will return to his well-known arrogant style of communication, which, the party claims, damaged DUI’s ratings more than anything else. According to VLEN, as long as Grubi remains free and makes DUI’s necessary personnel reform even more difficult, he represents the best and strongest guarantee of a VLEN victory in any election.
