Albanian Constitutional Court orders review of mayor Erion Veliaj’s prison detention

The Constitutional Court of Albania on 25 May 2026 decided to return the case concerning the pre‑trial imprisonment of Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj to the High Court for further examination. The court said the High Court must explain whether the measure of “arrest in prison” is proportionate to Veliaj’s status as an elected official and whether it infringes his dignity and presumption of innocence.

Veliaj has been held in pre‑trial detention since February 2025 while facing a large corruption and money‑laundering probe that also implicates his wife Ajola Xoxa and dozens of co‑defendants. The Constitutional Court accepted part of his challenge, overturning a previous High Court ruling as unconstitutional, and sent the matter back for a third‑level judicial review.