The court hearing against Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj and 18 other co-defendants has been postponed, following the absence of several defense lawyers and developments in the courtroom.
Only prosecutor Ols Daso was present at the hearing, while the other prosecutor Altin Dumani was absent. Veliaj's lawyer, Plarent Ndreca, was present on the defense side.
Mayor Veliaj did not attend the hearing, sending a letter to the court arguing that "keeping him in a cage is neither graceful nor dignified," requesting to be represented by his lawyer.
The postponement of the hearing also came as a result of the absence of other defense attorneys, forcing the court to temporarily suspend the detention terms for the defendants.
During the session, the request of lawyer Ndreca was also reviewed, who claimed that 24 files of the file were not made available to the defense. The trial panel explained that the missing materials are related to the notification of the indictment for the other defendants and do not constitute a procedural violation that violates the defense at this stage of the process.
The court also decided to make the 24 requested files available to Erion Veliaj, while the process will continue in another session on the 16th, at 10:00.