Tirana mayor challenges prosecutor investigating him

Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj asked an administrative court on Friday to cancel the 2008 appointment of a prosecutor involved in the criminal case against him.

Veliaj argues that prosecutor Ols Dado did not meet the legal requirements for magistrate status when he was appointed. The Presidency is also named as a defendant because the appointment was made by presidential decree.

Dado is part of the case being handled by SPAK, Albania’s special anti-corruption prosecution.

Veliaj told the court that the dispute went beyond the prosecutor’s appointment, arguing that an unlawfully appointed official could not be allowed to remove an elected mayor from office.

He also asked the judges to consider a Constitutional Court ruling that found flaws in the Supreme Court’s reasoning for keeping him in pre-trial detention.