Erion Veliaj seeks release from prison, appears in court on Wednesday

The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, who has been under "prison arrest" for more than two months on suspicion of committing two criminal offenses, has requested his release from prison.

Veliaj has filed a request for the revocation or replacement of the security measure, and has requested information from the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office regarding the progress of the investigations being conducted against him, for the criminal offenses of corruption and money laundering.

His request is expected to be reviewed on Wednesday by the preliminary investigation judge, Erjon Bani, who had previously signed the "prison arrest" measure against Veliaj.

The Mayor of Tirana previously appealed the GJKKO measure in the Special Appeal, but the second instance of the judiciary decided to reject his request, leaving in force the decision given by Erjon Bani in the session of evaluation of security measures held in the Special Court on February 12.

The Appeals Court's decision was made public a few days ago, while Erion Veliaj's legal defense is expected to appeal to the High Court, as they oppose the coercive measure but also the investigation launched by SPAK, which according to them is based on an anonymous report.

For the same issue, businessman Elman Abule remains under "house arrest", while Veliaj's wife and five other businessmen, including Gentian Sula, Shkëlqim Fusha, Meriman Palushi, Fatmir Bektashi and Sokol Kryeziu, are limited to the "compulsory appearance" measure.