Due to the absence of lawyer Plarent Ndreca, the hearing for the review of the lawsuit filed by the Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, against Special Prosecutor Ols Dado was postponed at the Administrative Court.
"I need legal help. Without the help and assistance of a lawyer, I cannot continue the hearing. Goodbye to the lawyer's son," the mayor said at the hearing.
Given that Ndreca was absent for family reasons and Veliaj was left without defense, the judge decided to postpone the hearing to July 24.
Through the lawsuit in the Administrative Court, Veliaj is seeking the annulment of the presidential decree appointing Ols Dado as prosecutor, who he says was appointed in violation of the law.
In parallel with this process, Erion Veliaj is being tried in the Special Court on 13 criminal charges.
Veliaj's statement in court:
Dear Jury,
Yesterday, the Constitutional Court's decision was made public, which found that the High Court had not constitutionally justified the proportionality of the detention measure in relation to my mandate as Mayor of Tirana, and had not properly addressed the allegations of violation of my dignity by being held in a glass cabin. Furthermore, one of the judges of the Constitutional Court has concluded that, based on the evidence administered, the constitutional standard of reasonable suspicion that I have committed a criminal offense has not been met.
These are not abstract consequences. I have been in detention for 16 months, and the Constitutional Court itself has identified serious constitutional deficiencies in the way the restriction of my freedom has been justified.
Precisely for this reason, this administrative judgment has an importance that goes far beyond my person or the person of Mr. Olsi Dado. This is not a process for specific names. This is a process to determine whether a person, the legality of whose appointment is seriously questioned, can exercise powers that interfere to the extent of limiting the freedom of a citizen, violating his dignity and preventing the exercise of a mandate directly obtained by the democratic will of the citizens of Tirana. Essentially, this issue affects the very trust in the rule of law and constitutional democracy.
For this reason, I am making available to the Court yesterday's decision of the Constitutional Court, as a development of direct importance for this process.
