VLEN calls release of Artan Grubi and Përparim Bajrami from detention an unprecedented scandal

VLEN has called the release of Artan Grubi and Përparim Bajrami from detention an unprecedented scandal and an outright mockery of state institutions. The reaction followed reports that Përparim Bajrami, the former director of the State Lottery, had offered €1.1 million in bail to remain free pending trial.

According to VLEN, the public has been shocked by reports that Bajrami, a man in his thirties whose first job was at the State Lottery, secured his freedom by posting bail of more than €1 million. The party noted that his boss had also been released from house arrest shortly beforehand, even though both had been fugitives from justice for more than a year.

VLEN questioned whether Sasho Mijallkov was repaying a debt to Artan Grubi for services that, according to the party, Grubi had rendered by allowing him to remain free while Albanians remained in prison. It also asked whether the releases were linked to manipulation of the justice system through judges susceptible to influence, an issue that, according to VLEN, landed Grubi on the US blacklist.

The party further questioned whether justice and the fight against corruption were being obstructed by figures linked to the secret services and the underworld. It asked whether citizens were bearing the consequences of the former government’s power games with figures from the secret services and their tacit alliances with organized crime cartels.

VLEN demanded that the relevant authorities, the judiciary and the prosecution immediately explain how the two individuals, who had been fugitives from justice, were released. As a governing party, it said it would use all institutional mechanisms to establish the facts of the case and assure citizens that it would not allow justice and the state to be made a mockery of.

The party also called for greater international attention to what it described as the deterioration of institutions and the erosion of public trust in the rule of law and the fight against organized crime in a NATO member state. VLEN urged international actors and foreign embassies to closely monitor the proceedings in the interests of transparency and the rule of law.

In its statement, VLEN noted that Artan Grubi is on the US blacklist for corrupt activities in collaboration with Mijallkov. The party also stated that, following Grubi, Përparim Bajrami was being released from pretrial detention on bail of €1.2 million. It said these developments must not go unnoticed or without accountability, and that anyone who had played a role in them must be held accountable in accordance with their legal and institutional responsibilities.