Are there any more untouchables from justice in Albania? This question needs an in-depth analysis, based on the statistics of the Special Prosecution Office, which has been at the center of public attention throughout 2025. Politics has had an aggressive language towards special prosecutors, in particular the former head of SPAK, Altin Dumani , while the media has often relativized the main issues by trying to consider the investigations against senior officials as insignificant. Certain voices have gone so far as to declare that "SPAK must know its limits". However, two are the investigative files that marked the work of SPAK during 2025, regarding the investigation of senior officials.
The arrest of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj in his office on February 10 of this year was a significant step in SPAK's work. Ten months later, Veliaj is being held in custody and faces 13 criminal charges, 9 of which are for corruption.
But while the Veliaj dossier was gripping public opinion and the media, divided for and against, another issue erupted in October 2025.
The news that Belinda Balluku was under investigation, and would later be charged, was for many a “thunderbolt” in the open sky. In the two months that followed, SPAK intensified the investigations against the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy and requested security measures for her in court. Two measures were imposed on Balluku: suspension from exercising her function and a ban on leaving the country. When the first measure was temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court, SPAK wasted no time, but requested permission from the Parliament to arrest the government’s number two.
Of course, over the past 12 months, politicians have been seen at the doors of SPAK and GJKKO. From former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who is being tried for corruption, to former President Ilir Meta , who is also waiting to start his battle with justice, to Ilir Beqaj , who is facing a mountain of accusations.
Ministers and former ministers, or senior state officials, have been seen entering and exiting the doors of the glass building, where issues of high public interest are being investigated, from the events of January 21 to the multi-million dollar health concessions scandal, road tenders, the criminal group in the National Agency for the Protection of the Environment, the Tirana incinerator, or the abuse of EU funds.
2026 is likely to start off with a bang with the clash between the parties over the Balluku case. But whether SPAK will continue to strike at high levels or not remains to be seen. But it is certain that the Special Prosecution Office will remain a topic of discussion for the new year that is knocking.
