Erion Veliaj’s request to attend the Socialist Party Assembly, scheduled for Saturday, November 14, has received a preliminary response from the party’s General Secretary, Blendi Klosi. The Mayor of Tirana has addressed a request to the PS Secretariat and SPAK, asking to take part physically in the meeting or, if that is not possible, via a video-conference link.
Asked in an interview with Klan News how the PS would respond to the request, Klosi said the matter would be discussed in the party’s forums. However, he stressed that the main obstacle remains the pretrial detention measure against Veliaj. “I am familiar with that letter, and it is a matter we will discuss in our forums. But the problem remains the situation with the pretrial detention of the Mayor of Tirana, who was elected by vote,” Klosi stated.
The PS General Secretary reiterated the Socialists’ opposition to pretrial detention, describing it as a practice used excessively in Albania. According to him, the situation is absurd, and responsibility for the current deadlock lies with the decisions of the justice authorities.
“We have done everything to oppose the pretrial detention measure, because we are worse than Russia when it comes to pretrial detention; we find ourselves in an absurd situation. The justice system made the decision it made, even though we opposed it,” he said.
Klosi implied that the PS’s final position on Veliaj’s participation will be determined after discussions in party forums, adding that any new development from the justice authorities will be taken into consideration. During the interview, he was also asked about Veliaj’s claims regarding his transfer to the Fier prison and the visit of the Minister of Justice, Toni Gogu. On these issues, Klosi chose not to comment, arguing that he cannot speak about specific individuals.
“I am the wrong person to answer about this issue. I cannot speak about specific individuals,” he said.