Tirana Mayor Erion Velijaj was detained by police on Monday at a police station in the Albanian capital, sources told Radio Free Europe.
Neither the police nor the Specialized Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) have yet made an official statement about Veljiaj's detention, which is believed to be linked to corruption.
According to sources, the Specialized Court has ordered that Veljiaj be kept in custody, while his wife will be under house arrest.
He was arrested based on an investigation launched last year into suspicions of the crime of "passive corruption of high-ranking state officials or elected local officials", after a report was filed with SPAK on February 8, 2024.
Veljiaj was summoned to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Institution in late December. At the time, he told reporters that he had been anonymously reported by a person named Nesti Angoni.
"This person does not exist, we know what name and culture of lynching this style represents. This is a setup. Nesti Angoni attacked me in order to return us to the practice of anonymous letters," Veljiaj said at the time.
On December 26, after being summoned to SPAK, he stressed that "it would be disturbing if he did not appear before the Special Prosecutor's Office because he is not one of those politicians who attacks SPAK when it investigates them."
Regarding the case of Erion Velijaj, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama previously stated that a court case is underway against the mayor of Tirana, and that he will take a position at the right time.
The first reaction after Velijaj's arrest on Monday came from Luljzim Baša, former mayor of Tirana and leader of the Democratic Party.
He said that "Veljiaj, with the support of Prime Minister Edi Rama, turned the Tirana City Municipality into a center of corruption."
"I welcome SPAK's determination to pursue corruption investigations to the end and encourage judicial institutions to act without any hesitation against high-level corruption, which is destroying the well-being of Albanian families," said Basha.
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