SPAK has clarified the "slip" in the request for the measure against Erion Veliaj, where the mayor of Tirana was found to be "convicted".
SPAK says in a communication to the media that the status "convicted" was obtained from a certificate printed after a request made to the General Directorate of Prisons.
Furthermore, SPAK says that despite this, in no case has Erion Veliaj's "judicial status" been used as a circumstance.
Velaj, in a reaction from the cell, stated that it was not a simple "slip", but according to him, it was due to the malice of the prosecutor in the case.
SPAK announcement:
Regarding the claims of the citizen under investigation EV regarding his judicial status, the Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime clarifies that:
In the request for "Assignment of a coercive measure of personal security", addressed to the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime for the citizen under investigation EV, with protocol number 2402, dated 24.01.2025, the Special Prosecution Office did not refer at any time to his judicial status.
As part of the documents filed with the Special Court, there is also an electronic certificate of judicial status with no. prot. 5488 dated 23.01.2025, generated by the system of the General Directorate of Prisons, to which the proceeding body has access. This certificate, within it, contains the information that citizen EV, son of L. and Sh. born on 17.12.1979 in Tirana, results as “Convicted”.
Regarding this certificate, the Special Prosecution Office has requested information from the General Directorate of Prisons regarding criminal offenses as well as court decisions, which are related to the electronic certificate that was generated.
With letter no. 2215/1 dated 12.02.2025, the General Directorate of Judicial Status has clarified, among other things, that:
...every time the Certificate of Judicial Status with notes is printed, the convicted status appears as in this case. Citizen ELV has 3 not guilty verdicts.
In any case, neither in the request of the Special Prosecutor's Office addressed to the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime, nor by the latter, was the judicial status of the citizen under investigation EV used as a circumstance to impose the coercive measure provided for in Article 238 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the latter.