"I'm Eri. Hit me up on Whatsapp at this number." The phone call made to the number of Mayor Erion Veliaj's wife, Ajola Xoxa, on the afternoon of March 11, which was already under wiretapping, has piqued the curiosity of SPAK investigators.
Nearly ten minutes earlier, the same request had been made to the phone number of Mayor Veliaj's brother.
Further investigation revealed that the caller was Mayor Veliaj and that the phone belonged to the Prison Police officer, who was in the van with him, during the escort from the Durrës detention center to the Court and vice versa. The use of the guard's phone for 12 incoming and outgoing calls added the charge of "bringing prohibited items into the prison" to Veliaj, and also placed officer Fatjon Baci under criminal liability for the same charge, reports A2 CNN.
In his statements to SPAK, the officer also revealed the content of the conversations between Veliaj, his brother and his wife.
"Erioni told me, could I do him a favor, that he wanted to call his brother, because he was feeling bad. At that moment, I was firm and gave him the phone," Baci said. According to him, the mayor had first talked to his brother and then to his wife.
The same request was made to him by the mayor the next day and he had given them the phone, based on the fear he had because of the power and the person he represented. In conversations with family members, according to him, Veliaj had expressed dissatisfaction with the postponement of the decision. "When he returned the phone to me, the guard showed it, he didn't say anything to me. Not even a thank you," the guard stated, writes A2 CNN.
Meanwhile, on the third day, after the confirmation of the "prison arrest", in the next conversation, according to the guard, Veliaj told his brother "I have nothing to say, they have a personal matter with me".
In subsequent conversations, the guard overheard Veliaj telling his family members that his plan to escape prison was to run for MP, as other mayors like Tërmet Peçi or someone with the surname Malaj had done to escape SPAK.
"Also, the guard said, during the conversation with his wife or brother, he said that Ulsi was taken out by that MP from Paskuqan or Lapraka, but he did not know that he was siding with SPAK," A2 CNN reports.
On Wednesday, Erion Veliaj and his wife were indicted by SPAK for 4 criminal offenses each, while nearly 30 people in total, both natural and legal persons, have been indicted for the same matter. (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
