Former deputy Ervin Salianji has appealed to the Supreme Court regarding the Appeal decision that sentenced him to 1 year of imprisonment, after a trial that lasted several years, for a media denunciation that he had not made against Geron Xhafaj, the brother of the former minister of the Interior, Agron Xhafaj, related to drug trafficking and an uncompleted sentence in Italy.
But Salianji was sentenced for false reporting, even though the former MP had not filed any report, but simply a public denunciation.
Salianji, who is serving his sentence in the prison of Fier, asks the Supreme Court to overturn the decision given by the Court of Appeal that sentenced him to 1 year in prison, leaving in effect the decision previously given by the Court of the Judicial District of Tirana.
The decision of the Appeal was announced by the panel of judges with Elona Toro as relator and Iliba Bezati and Genti Shala as members.
After the verdict was announced, Salianji denounced the process as rigged from start to finish and called himself a political convict.
"I am the first political convict in these 34 years of pluralism. This is political punishment, just like agitation and propaganda used to be," said Salianji. "I have not fought a battle to steal and kill, but I have fought a battle against drug traffickers," he declared, adding that he is available to serve his sentence in any type of prison.
Since October 26, Salianji is in Fier prison serving his sentence