Former Minister of State for Local Government and former Deputy Mayor of Tirana, Arbjan Mazniku, testified today at the Special Court against Corruption as part of the judicial process for the affair known as "5D".
During his testimony, Mazniku stated that during the period 2019-2022, when he held the position of Deputy Mayor of Tirana, he had competence for the final verification of tender procedures, but not the content of the subject matter of the requests.
"According to the law, I was not dealing with the subject matter of the request, but only with verifying the links in the process. The summary report on the tenders was prepared by the relevant experts," said Mazniku.
He added that during his tenure, he signed dozens of documents a day and made sure that each procedure had the signatures and tasks completed by the relevant responsible persons, before certifying it himself.
"My approval was actually a certification that the administrative links had done their duties," he emphasized.
Asked about his connections with the people involved in the 5D affair, Mazniku admitted that he knew Redi Molla, Mariglen Qato and Taulant Tusha, but stressed that his relations with them were only professional.
"I had telephone contacts with Redi Molla, we were colleagues. I had no knowledge that Molla, Qato or Tushe had any financial interests," Mazniku declared.
Redi Molla and Mariglen Qato are accused by SPAK as the de facto owners of the 5D company, which has benefited from numerous tenders from the Municipality of Tirana.
