Albania: Opposition Chief Hit by Building Permits Probe

News

Prosecutors in Albania are probing the municipality of Tirana over 17 building permits issued that were signed off by the current chief of the main opposition party, Lulzim Basha.

August 14, 2015

Now head of the Democratic Party, Basha was mayor of Tirana from 2011 to 2015, the period in which all 17 building permits where issued.

The National Agency for Planning (AKPT) is understood to have filed charges over the permits.

“We are verifying if there were any criminal offenses,” a source in the general prosecutor’s office told the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.

While prosecutors investigate who was behind the permits, no suspects have been named.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Niko Peleshi declared his support for current mayor of Tirana Erion Veliaj to suspend the permits.

Peleshi said the permits, which were issued just before a round of local elections, were “abusive”.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Basha said the charges filed by the AKPT against the municipality were politically motivated.