At the end of a marathon session, which lasted more than an hour outside of official working hours at the Special Court, the panel decided to accept the request for a summary trial for Ilir Meta's former mother-in-law, Fatima Kryemadhi, and the two other defendants.
The three judges, led by Etleva Deda, will continue reviewing the charges against them, while the file for former head of state Meta and former top politician Krëmadhi will be re-drawn, as they both have requested direct confrontation with SPAK witnesses and evidence at the hearing and will be tried together.
Monday's session also had other important developments, such as the rejection of the request of Freedom Party leader Ilir Meta to replace the "prison arrest" measure with a lighter measure.
Lawyer Kujtim Cakrani asked the court to reflect and ease the measure, arguing that all circumstances have changed.
"The risk of witness intimidation remains speculative. The prosecution says it will destroy evidence, but it does not say what the evidence is. The prosecution says it will intimidate witnesses, but it does not say which witnesses it will intimidate," said Cakrani, as he brought to the attention of the body the mitigation of the measure for the former head of AKSH, Mirlinda Karcanaj.
Special Prosecutor Sotir Kllapi insisted that Ilir Meta's social dangerousness is evident due to the length of time he is accused of having committed the criminal offenses.
The court justified the decision to dismiss the request with the fact that the defendant could damage evidence or intimidate witnesses.
Subsequently, the request for live broadcasting of the process was also rejected, with the argument that it violates the private life of the witnesses. While the debate continued with the request to remove Ilir Meta from the glass cage. The marathon session against the former head of state was closely followed by several opposition MPs. Ilir Meta and his ex-wife, Monika Kryemadhi, are being tried on charges of corruption, money laundering and concealment of assets.
