Albania Arrests Ruling Party Mayor for Abuse of Office

The Special Prosecution said on Tuesday that the mayor of the western city of Lushnja, Fatos Tushe, a member of the ruling Socialist Party, has been arrested alongside five other senior officials on graft charges.

They are accused of abuse of office and "violating the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", the prosecution said.

Administrators of two private companies, Loti and EuroAlb, were also arrested for alleged forgery of documents.

Four more senior officials were put under house arrest for the offence of "violating the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions".

Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote on Twitter that Tushe won't be shielded by the Socialist Party.

"The mayor of Lushnja and anyone else accused by the judiciary in this case or in any case will not have any protection from the Socialist Party and must answer before justice themselves, with their lawyers and with their words," Rama said.

Lulzim Basha, head of the opposition Democratic Party, welcomed the mayor's arrest.

"The arrest of Fatos Tusha after many years of denunciations by the Democratic Party of his corrupt cooperation with organised crime could be a good start. But that will depend on the ability, courage and independence of the judiciary to crack down on the links between the powerful and crime," Basha wrote on Twitter.

Tushe is serving his third mandate as mayor of Lushnja, and before that he was an MP for the Socialist Party.

His arrest was one of the biggest operations carried out so far by the Special Prosecution and the Special Court against Corruption and Organised Crime, which are both new institutions emerging from the justice system reform that is being implemented in Albania.

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