SP "Freezes" Valdrin Pjetri

SP "Freezes" Valdrin Pjetri

Valdrin Pjetri is not the only Socialist mayor who has been previously convicted by local or foreign authorities. 7 of the 61 mayors who emerged from the June 30th voting have admitted to having been convicted before.

In the top spot for the largest number of convictions is Poliçan's Mayor, Adriatik Zotkaj, who in fact has a total of 4 convictions by the country's courts.

In the worst case, Zotkaj was sentenced to 3 years in prison on charges of violating traffic rules.

The mayor of Poliçan has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for opposing police officers, one year in prison for violence against state officials and a fine for insulting and assaulting officials.

Despite numerous penalties, Adriatik Zotkaj took up the leadership of the Poliçan Municipality for the fifth time and, in this instance, ran in the election without opposition.

In second place for the most convictions is Kruja's Mayor, Artur Bushi. Bushi has often been the focus of a debate over whether or not he should be allowed to run for mayor given his indictment for narcotics trafficking in Italy.

The Mayor of Mat, Agron Malaj is not surprised to be involved in the January 21 event, but on his decriminalization form, Malaj testified that he was an asylum seeker in the UK in 2000.

Although found guilty by the court, Pjerin Ndreu, a former SP MP and at the same time the new mayor chosen for Lezha, was questioned by the prosecution in 2004 for malicious use of phone calls, but was subsequently acquitted.

Pusteci's mayor, Pali Kolefski, was also fined 35,000 lekë for intimidation, while Haxhi Memolla, elected in Rrogozhina, was involved in a road accident, and the court decided to dismiss the case.

Tërmet Peçi, elected in Tepelena, was fined 100,000 lekë for the use of forged documents.

Apart from those who have officially been convicted, there are also many mayors who have changed their personal details for reasons not explained, arising suspicion as to what their pasts and histories may be hiding.

Despite the decriminalization law, the Central Election Commission and the authorities have agreed for convicted mayors to be accepted into the local government bodies, as the offenses committed were not specifically listed as exclusionary in the decriminalization law.



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