Mayor Erion Veliaj's lawyer, Plarent Ndreca, in a media statement from the GJKKO, stated that he has not yet been made available to the mayor as his legal defender.
He said that there is a rush on this matter on the part of the court, while adding that prosecutor Ols Dado had an emotional reaction in the courtroom today, which is not consistent with his role.
Ndreca said that Veliaj did not appear at the hearing because he was familiarizing himself with the file and reading it.
"There was an emotional reaction, which is not in line with the role of the prosecutor. There is a process, where a level of judgment was lost by not giving Mr. Veliaj the opportunity to defend himself."
But I understand all this rush! Mr. Veliaj has not been given his due. A sick lawyer asked for the hearing to be postponed. The prosecutor's connection to Veliaj's case is emotional. We will have a team of experts, not just lawyers.
The prosecution had all the resources available to build this case. I have not read the file. Nor has the file been made available to me as a defense attorney. Veliaj is reading the file at a high pace, is ready to defend the case and himself, is in an admirable condition.
We have requested that the sessions be held live. De facto Veliaj is suspended from duty due to security measures. Veliaj is determined to reveal the truth to the citizens who voted for him for 3 terms.
"He was not present at the hearing because he was not familiar with the entire file, which is very voluminous, and he is reading up to 200-300 pages a day. The rush is being made so that the process is not orderly," he said.