The hearing at the Criminal Court of Albania against the head of Tirana Municipality, Erion Veliaj, has been postponed. Journalist Klodiana Lala reports that the next hearing will be held on March 24 at 14:30 PM.
Veliaj was not present at the first session of the foundation because he claims that he has not passed the preliminary phase and cannot appear. The lawyer appointed by the court, since Veliaj has not brought a lawyer with a power of attorney, has requested to receive the files. This was also the reason for the postponement of the session.
Meanwhile, the Special Court has approved Erion Veliaj's request for the disclosure of investigative acts, an early request by the mayor. The trio of trial judges granted Veliaj's request, overruling judge Etleva Deda and the Court of Appeal, who did not consider the mayor's disclosure of the acts to be fair.
Also present in the room was SPAK prosecutor Ols Dado.
"We have not held preliminary hearings, we have not been given all the documents. My client should be familiar with the case materials. I have had contact with my client twice. The second time it was with serum. You are given 65 thousand pages. The other time we only spent an hour talking about the case," said lawyer Valentina Teodorescu.
Meanwhile, Veliaj's wife, Ajola Xoxa, is not present in the courtroom, while lawyers Maksim Haxhiaj and Dritan Jahaj are in court.
"Our client is unable to appear due to her condition, as she is pregnant. The doctor has forbidden her from moving," the lawyer is reported to have said.
