The Elbasan Court released 16 of the detainees of the "Metallurgical" operation, considering the arrest as illegal.
The hearing held at the Elbasan Court lasted more than seven hours, due to the large number of people involved, but also the presence of foreign citizens for whom it was necessary to have licensed translators.
During the operation, 16 people, including 9 foreigners, were initially arrested for committing environmental crimes. The arrests were made following complaints from residents of the Bradashesh area, who raised concerns about environmental pollution.
The Elbasan Police and Prosecution, in cooperation with the National Inspectorate of Territorial Protection, discovered that two companies, CCAlb and GSA Ferrokrom, which operated in the former Metalurgjiku area in the ferrochrome and ferroalloys sector, had violated environmental law by polluting the air, water and soil.
The on-site inspection found significant violations: the GSA Ferrokrom company did not treat and send ash waste from the dust capture system to licensed operators, while CCAlb did not respect the criteria for recycling and disposal of battery waste.
As a result, the activities of both companies were suspended and fined 10 million lek (CCAlb) and 3 million lek (GSA Ferrokrom). In addition to administrators Ilir Londo and Ergis Flaga, production directors, engineers, technical managers, shift managers, furnace operators and other employees were also arrested.
Also, the head of the Environment Sector in the Municipality of Elbasan was held criminally liable for the criminal offenses of "Abuse of office" and "Forgery of documents".
