Detained Tirana mayor challenges prosecutor’s appointment

A Tirana court will hear today a case brought by Mayor Erion Veliaj, who is seeking to overturn the 2008 appointment of special prosecutor Ols Dado.

Dado is the prosecutor handling Veliaj’s case. Veliaj has been in detention since February 2025.

Veliaj says Dado was appointed by presidential decree without completing Albania’s School of Magistrates, the main training route for judges and prosecutors.

The decree was signed by then-president Bamir Topi, whose office is also named in the case. The previous hearing was postponed after a media and justice association asked to join the proceedings.