Tirana Mayor Veliaj Says PM Rama Applied Pressure Through Minister — Balkan Insight

In Albania, Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, who is in custody, said that Prime Minister Edi Rama, through the justice minister, conveyed a demand that he resign and admit involvement in violent protests in the capital. This was reported by Balkan Insight.

Claims about the prime minister’s demands

Veliaj’s lawyer, Plarent Ndreca, said that Justice Minister Toni Gogu visited his client in prison after the mayor was transferred and allegedly conveyed a list of demands from Rama. According to the lawyer, Veliaj was required to leave office and admit that he was behind the protest actions in Tirana.

Gogu confirmed meeting with the mayor but denied conveying any messages from the prime minister. The minister explained that the visit was to inspect Veliaj’s detention conditions and review complaints previously voiced publicly by his lawyer.

Veliaj later published two handwritten notes which, he said, contained Rama’s demands. He also called on the prime minister to provide evidence for his assumptions about the mayor’s involvement in the protests.

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Transfer to a prison in Fier

The statements came several days after Veliaj was transferred from a pretrial detention center in Durres to a facility in Fier. The mayor called the transfer politically motivated and equated it with a police kidnapping, stressing the absence of a written order.

Albania’s General Directorate of Prisons said that the transfer was a standard procedure. At the same time, the agency reported that the order for it had been classified as a state secret.

Human rights defenders’ concerns

Following Veliaj’s statements, the Albanian Helsinki Committee conducted monitoring at the Fier prison. The organization reported serious problems with the transparency of the reasons for the transfer, the classification of the relevant order, and obstacles to an effective appeal.

Veliaj has been in custody since February 10, 2025, following his arrest by the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime. He is accused of corruption and money laundering in a case that also concerns his wife, Ajola Xoxa. The mayor denies the charges.