TIRANA, Albania, Feb. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the one-year anniversary of Mayor Erion Veliaj's unjust and unlawful detention by the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime ("SPAK") in Albania. Over the past 365 days, Mayor Veliaj's case has become the prime example of Albania's overuse and abuse of pre-trial detention. Mayor Veliaj has been detained despite a clear absence of evidence that he is a flight risk, would obstruct justice, or would or could re-commit the alleged crimes of which he had been accused.
In the past year, Mayor Veliaj's case has emerged as a glaring example of how nascent democracies like Albania's can trample on an individual's basic due process rights through a flawed political persecution.
- From February to July last year, Mayor Veliaj was detained without even being charged with the actual crimes for which he was held in custody.
- In September, his detention was cited by the Municipal Council of Tirana as the basis on which it sought to remove him from his position as Mayor - a maneuver apparently aimed at disenfranchising the voters of Tirana who had elected him to three terms.
- Just last month, Mayor Veliaj - who has chosen to defend himself against SPAK's charges - was completely denied access to over 60,000 pages of evidence from which he can prepare and mount a defense at trial.
Recently, SPAK prosecutors have argued that Mayor Veliaj's continued detention in jail is justified because he relied on U.S. counsel to advocate for him when it became obvious that he could not feasibly do so himself. This is not due process; it is punishment for advocacy and a blatant violation of his right to defend himself.
"From day one, this case has been a political persecution marred with outrageous abuses of due process. Today marks a full year of this continuing injustice," said Daniel J. Fetterman, a partner in the law firm of Kasowitz and one of Mayor Veliaj's international counsel. "Mayor Veliaj's case has all of the earmarks of a political show trial and his treatment falls well below any acceptable U.S. and European standards of fairness, due process, and justice."
But there are signs that Mayor Veliaj's treatment isn't going unnoticed. In November of last year, the Constitutional Court rejected the Municipal Council's attempt to remove Mayor Veliaj from office, affirming his mandate and ensuring that he remains the Mayor until 2027. Albanian media outlets have identified the punitive nature of SPAK's approach to Mayor Veliaj, calling it a "repressive mentality" akin to a "new Chinese revolution" that relies on sponsored propaganda to justify civil rights abuses. Foreign outlets, like the EU Reporter, have echoed similar sentiments, observing the "slow unravelling of Albania's justice system" in a case that "shows clear signs of political motivation" falling "well short of European standards." And in December, the Albanian Ombudsman - the People's Advocate - issued a report finding that the security measures governing Mayor Veliaj's medical treatment in detention were unreasonable and violated his privacy.
Notably, the international community has publicly recognized the flaws in Mayor Veliaj's ongoing pre-trial detention. 76 Mayors and Representatives of the "B40 Balkan Cities Network" - who hail from political parties and backgrounds across the ideological spectrum - issued a joint letter denouncing the detention of Mayor Veliaj. They adopted a finding in the 2025 Venice Commission Report of the Council of Europe that "the use of pretrial detention against sitting mayors constitutes a serious risk to democratic governance" because it "effectively disenfranchises citizens by sidelining their chosen representatives without due process."
Mayor Veliaj's detention must end. Continuing to detain Mayor Veliaj and denying him fundamental due process rights like the ability to review the evidence against him betrays Albania's democratic promise, casts serious doubt on the progress of its reforms, and may jeopardize its EU accession goals.
Global leaders, democratic organizations, and the media should continue to keep the spotlight on this injustice and demand Erion Veliaj's immediate release from pre-trial detention.
Contact: Shannon O'Reilly, (212-547-1290, soreilly@kasowitz.com)
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