22 officials arrested in Albania on corruption charges

In Albania, 22 state officials were detained in a major anti-corruption campaign, 11 of which were released into house arrest. These officials, led by Lezhë Mayor Fran Frrokaj, are charged with abuse of office by selling land close to the beaches an illegal manner, or rather through falsification of documents, they alienated a large area of ​​land.

The large number of detained persons raised an avalanche of reactions by the opposition in Albania. It accused Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama that, with such arrests, he actually made a show to prepare the public for local elections. The president of the Socialist Movement for Integration, Monika Kryemadhi, said that these arrests serve his party to win political points in the following local elections in Albania.
“The history of the Mafia and the lands in Lezhë is an old story and has nothing to do with the alienation of the land, but also the legalization of houses. The large number of arrests is now used as propaganda,” said Kryemadhi.

Last year, a citizen of Lezhe in the local Prosecutor’s Office reported that over 234 thousand square meters of land near the beaches was taken illegally. Hence the procedure, which culminated these days with 22 arrests of state officials, began.