The Special Court of Appeal has rejected the request of the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, who requested the annulment of a First Instance decision to suspend pre-trial detention terms.

Lawyer Plarent Ndreca told the media that the suspension of deadlines is also done collectively, causing the behavior of one defendant to affect another.
"It is a standard apparently established in the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal when the suspension of the detention period is made even for reasons that are not related to the person in charge, so it translates into an extension of the detention periods collectively. So, from the behavior of one defendant, a co-defendant also suffers, which in our view is absurd and unconstitutional. Of course, we will follow all the steps, up to the Constitutional Court and Strasbourg, to undo this type of practice which, as I said, seems calcified and is in complete violation of human freedoms and rights. The second reason why we were here today is the insistence that we have regarding the issue of the foundation, for the unopened digital evidence that I am asking the secretary and the chancellor not to touch without our presence with a verbal process and I am asking that the evidence that gives us the right to "We will challenge the entire process in higher courts, that is, in the Court of Appeal, which is based on some evidence that was not disclosed by the court itself. So the court has made a decision, as I said in the trial on the merits, it has made a decision on the case, without seeing all the evidence itself. This was one of the reasons why I was here today and made a request to the Secretariat, so that the CDs would not be touched, without our presence and without a report being kept on the factual situation of the file," he said.

questions: Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted Ilir Beqja the right to be tried outside the cage. Does this give you hope for your client Erion Veliaj that the same thing will happen?

Light: This is a hope for all those who do not pose a public danger to not stay in the cage. So it is not simply the case of Mr. Veliaj or another specific name, it is for all those who need to exercise their defense effectively and freely with their lawyer in order to make a dynamic defense in front of the prosecutors and there is no inequality of parties in the process. It is a basic element of due process and a constitutional principle on which the rules of the game are made in a trial in a country that is, that claims to be a member of the European Union tomorrow.

questions: Will you ask the new judiciary to ensure that Veliaj is no longer in jail?

Ndreca: Of course, we will demand every right that belongs to us from the constitutional provisions and we will not stop demanding our constitutional rights like every citizen of the Republic of Albania.
Question: You had your own hearing today, but you chose to be present at the appeal. Is Veliaj's innocence more important?

Light: I have appointed a lawyer for my trial.

questions: Will you take a stand or will you approach the ILD about the 5-star hotel…. It seems you are in the administrative process with Dado

Light: In the administrative process, we are concerned with the legitimacy of the prosecutor, that is, his ability to exercise the power granted to him by the constitution in an unauthorized manner in our view. Regarding the prosecutor's behavior, we have articulated and in the session we have also asked the court to react, unfortunately the court did not see fit to react.

Intervention: It caught my attention.

Ndreca: No, for the 5 stars, it doesn't seem to me that it attracted attention, however, if this happens to lawyers, I simply attract attention, I agree, it attracted attention and fulfilled its duty... However, we related it in the hearing and I think it was a cynical expression and completely inappropriate for the role of the prosecutor.