From the detention cell where he had been held for two months, Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj wrote an emotional letter on April 23, 2025 to United States Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat elected in Illinois, in which he described himself as a victim of persecution similar to what thousands of Albanians suffered during the communist regime.
"This reminds me of the old communist tactics in Albania, when the 'victim' was unreasonably targeted and hysteria was incited to dehumanize him, while the target was kept isolated in prison, without charges," Veliaj wrote, urging Durbin to become "a standard-bearer" of his confrontation with the justice system in Albania.
The letter to the US senator is part of a broad lobbying campaign by Veliaj in the United States, which has cost the mayor and his brother nearly $220,000 in 2025 alone.
The documents published by the FARA registration unit by the law firm contracted by Veliaj, Kasowitz LLP , present hyperbolic claims of his persecution by the justice system, while being accompanied by articles in favor of Veliaj, published by the media in Albania.
The documents also add to unsubstantiated claims that Veliaj is being investigated by a prosecutor with a conflict of interest or who uses insults against him in the courtroom.
Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj was arrested in February last year by the Special Prosecution Office on charges of corruption, money laundering and concealment of assets. Along with Veliaj, his wife Ajola Xoxa, former Socialist Party MP Klotilda Bushka and 15 other people, including businessmen and associates, are also accused. Veliaj and the others dispute the Prosecution's charges.
Kasowitz Benson Torres in New York and Mishcon de Reya in London are two law firms contracted by Arbër Veliaj, the mayor's brother, to undertake an expensive PR campaign in his defense.
The American studio Kasowitz Benson Torres has recently filed with FARA the activity carried out on behalf of Veliaj – which consists mainly of letters and messages addressed to American politicians and other international contacts.
Through the lobbying company, Veliaj asks them to be "his voice" and to contact their governments, Parliaments, the European Commission, and human rights organizations to exert public pressure for his release.
According to the documents filed, Kasowitz Benson Torres was paid $220,000 and sent 75 emails to 24 U.S. senators and congressmen, the Justice Department and the State Department. It also states that 11 phone calls were made and five meetings were arranged.
The letters and messages contain almost identical complaints, including a host of undocumented allegations against the prosecutor in the case, Ols Dado. For example, in emails sent to senators and congressmen, Dado is described as “an active member of the authoritarian opposition party, the Democratic Party.”
Veliaj also repeatedly alleges that Dado is in a conflict of interest and presents himself as a builder whose request for a building permit amendment was partially rejected by the municipality. The materials do not provide any evidence for the allegations, they are simply listed in letters sent to representatives in the US.
Among other things, the file also includes reproductions of articles in Albanian media, where SPAK prosecutors are accused of "lynching" and are attributed, without evidence, insulting words towards Veliaj, allegedly spoken in the courtroom.
Part of the lobbying file is also a report by the firms Kasowitz LLP and Mishcon de Reya dated June 24, 2025, which presents Veliaj's detention as "unfair" and as a problem that should concern Western partners. The measure of arrest against Veliaj has been assessed as fair in all three levels of the judiciary in Albania.
The international PR campaign undertaken by Veliaj, in addition to what was stated in FARA, also includes a series of articles in his defense, published in peripheral international media and massively republished by media in Albania.
In December alone, immediately before the start of the review of the preliminary request for the trial of his case, at least three articles were published, raising concerns about an unfair legal process against the mayor. The articles were translated and republished massively in Albanian.
One of the articles was published by the Independent Policy Digest – a website based in Richmond, Virginia – which reported that the arrest of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj and his detention were procedurally flawed. The IPD article about Veliaj was signed by Kristopher O'Brien, an author with no biography and no other online publications, and used a stock photo that was also used for a host of similar profiles.
On December 4, 2025, just one day before Veliaj’s court hearing on the security measure at the GJKKO, a Brussels-based media outlet called “EUReporter” also published an article supporting Veliaj and questioning his trial. The article was published without an author, and the outlet in question told BIRN that it was referring to the report of the law firms.
Meanwhile, on December 11, Neil Watson, who signed as a British journalist and is known mainly for his writings and stances in support of the authoritarian president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, wrote concerned that the trial against Veliaj was impeding Albania's path towards the EU.
Watson is a frequent feature in state media in Azerbaijan, and in February 2024, the state news agency published his congratulations to Aliyev after he won the election with 92 percent of the vote, signed: "Yours faithfully."
Taken from Reporter.al
