Erion Veliaj's international lawyers have reacted on social media after SPAK communicated to Veliaj the conclusion of the investigation and the filing of charges against him of "passive corruption of high-ranking officials and local elected officials", "money laundering" and "concealing non-declaration of assets" and "bringing prohibited items into prison".
"Today, 163 days after the detention of Mr. Erion Veliaj, the results of the prolonged investigation by SPAK have been submitted to him by the special prosecution. Mr. Veliaj's lawyers can now begin reviewing the evidence in the case, challenge SPAK's position against him and present evidence in support of the defense. Veliaj categorically denies all allegations of violation of the law. We remain convinced that the continued detention of Mr. Veliaj is unreasonable, unnecessary and disproportionate. We have serious concerns that the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) have not been respected in his case. Unfortunately, for almost 3 months, Mr. Veliaj has been prevented from having access to his international legal lawyers, which seriously undermines his ability to exercise the rights guaranteed by the ECHR," the post reads, writes A2.
"As a democratically elected official who has been prevented from exercising his mandate, it is essential that SPAK has assessed the necessity of continuing his detention. To date, there is no evidence that this has been done. We are deeply concerned about the manner in which the investigation has been conducted. Most recently, details regarding the conclusion of the investigation and the Prosecutor's Office report have been leaked to the Albanian media. This leak of information is consistent with the treatment that has been meted out to Mr. Veliaj since the day of his arrest, where prejudicial data on the SPAK investigation have been continuously published in the public domain. From the information received from his local lawyers, we understand that these leaks constitute a violation of investigative secrecy under Albanian legislation. We will continue to work closely with Mr. Veliaj's local legal team and pursue every possible legal remedy," Erion Veliaj's lawyers add. (A2 Televizion)
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