A court says former Albanian president Meta must stay in custody during corruption investigation
FILE - Albanian President Ilir Meta speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Tirana, Albania, on April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, File)
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — An Albanian court on Wednesday ruled that former President Ilir Meta should stay in custody while the left-wing Freedom Party leader faces allegations of corruption, money laundering and the hiding of personal income and property.
Prosecutors have not yet filed formal criminal charges. A judge with the Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime, which deals with senior political and state officials, ruled that Meta will be held as investigations continue into charges that could bring 12 years in prison.
Meta, who was president from 2017-2022 and is an outspoken critic of current Prime Minister Edi Rama, has denounced the case as a politically motivated attack on an opposition leader.
Meta’s small Freedom Party has joined the anti-government opposition grouping against Rama’s the left-wing Socialist Party. Meta has accused the current government of running a “kleptocratic regime” and concentrating all legislative, administrative and judiciary powers in Rama’s hands.
“I believe so much in my full innocence,” Meta wrote on Facebook after masked, plainclothes police officers forcefully took him from his vehicle Monday in Tirana, the capital. Police said he had resisted an order to get out.
The party’s secretary-general, Tedi Blushi, called it “a criminal kidnapping,” while his lawyer Genc Gjokutaj called the case against him politically motivated.
Meta’s former spouse, Monika Kryemadhi, a lawmaker and former leader of the Freedom Party, was accused of the same crimes and ordered to report to police once a month. Two other people also are being investigated.
Prosecutors allege that Meta during his time as minister of economy, trade and energy abused his authority to influence various businesses for financial gain. They also allege that before becoming president in 2017, Meta failed to account for about $460,000 (423,000 Euro) he had used for lobbying in the United States.
Albania, which seeks European Union membership, has been plagued in its post-communist era with corruption that has marred its democratic, economic and social development.
Recently established judicial institutions created with the support of the EU and the United States have launched several investigations into former senior government officials allegedly involved in corruption.
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