The courtrooms of the Special Structure will host a record number of defendants among high-level officials in 2026, not only former officials, but also those still in office.
On the other hand, the list of those accused of organized crime in Albania has also expanded thanks to data provided by SKY ECC – which has given SPAK prosecutors a broader view of international cocaine trafficking and the way criminal groups interact with sectors of the economy such as construction or public tenders.
During 2025, SPAK indicted two of the highest-ranking officials in office, the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, and the deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure and energy, Belinda Balluku.
While the case against Balluk is still under investigation, the trial against Veliaj is expected to be the most sensational case and at the same time a test for investigation standards during 2026.
Veliaj has been in custody since February 10, when he was arrested in his office on corruption charges in collaboration with his wife, Ajola Xoxa. According to SPAK, Veliaj and Xoxa are responsible for a complex corruption and money laundering scheme to illegally benefit from the capital's municipality funds through a network of companies and non-profit organizations. Veliaj and Xoxa deny the charges.
The case against Veliaj was sent for trial on September 10, but the preliminary hearing is still ongoing. Although according to the Criminal Procedure Code, the request for trial must be reviewed within 30 days, this procedure has dragged on for three and a half months.
Despite these delaying tactics, it is expected that in 2026 the Special Court will decide whether or not to proceed to trial in a public session on the merits of the voluminous file against Veliaj, his wife Ajola Xoxa, former Socialist Party MP Klotilda Bushka, and 15 other people, businessmen and associates.
Another important trial in the Special Court is that of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, currently the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, and his son-in-law Jamarbër Malltezi, also accused of corruption in connection with the privatization of the former Partizani Sports Club. The trial of this case is in its early stages and is expected to last well into 2026.
Berisha, 81, is the highest-ranking opposition official in three decades to face such a legal situation, but not the only one.
Former President Ilir Meta, currently the leader of the Freedom Party, has been under arrest since October 21, 2024, on criminal charges of corruption and money laundering. Meta's ex-wife, Monika Kryemadhi, was also charged with the same criminal offenses.
They were sent for trial on August 29 along with three other defendants, but the court has not yet ruled on whether or not to proceed with the trial on the merits of the case, as the hearings have been postponed. It is expected that the trial for this case will also begin next year.
The Special Court also began the trial of fugitive former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj in November in connection with the criminal case against him for the privatization of a land plot at 1994 prices in the 5 May area. Ahmetaj will be tried in this case for abuse of office, while a second criminal case awaits him on charges of corruption and money laundering.
Former Health Minister Ilir Beqaj is another senior official currently on trial at the Special Court for the sterilization concession. In April, SPAK sent Beqaj and 10 other defendants to trial for the corruption affair involving European Union aid funds through fraudulent procurement procedures and money laundering through fictitious invoices, while he was heading SASPAC. The case is expected to go to trial later this year.
Fatmir Mediu, former Minister of Defense in 2008, during the Berisha government, has been on trial since 2023 for abuse of office related to the 2008 Gerdec explosion. The marathon of hearings will continue into 2026.
Dozens of lower-ranking officials are currently on trial for corruption and abuse of office. Two of them, former directors of the Tirana Municipality, Redi Molla and Mariglen Qato, are accused of the 5D company affair, which they controlled.
The court did not accept Molla and Qato's request for a summary trial and their trial was separated from the other defendants and is continuing in the phase of questioning witnesses, among whom was the former deputy mayor, Arbjan Mazniku, who evaded responsibility for the corrupt tenders won by the 5D company.
The close ties and cooperation of members of organized crime with politics were also clearly revealed in the case of former Socialist Party MP Jurgis Çyrbja. He was sentenced in November to two years in prison for electoral corruption, aiding and abetting crime, and leaking state secrets.
The data obtained from the Sky ECC application by French justice authorities opened Pandora's box for Albanian criminal organizations, from which SPAK managed to build successful criminal files that led to security measures for dozens of Albanian crime members and the seizure of assets worth tens of millions of euros.
The investigations exposed how deeply organized crime has penetrated the international drug trade, from the countries of origin in South America to the transportation and sale in Europe, to money laundering by posing as successful businessmen, as well as connections with politics, key structures of the State Police and magistrates. Also, scenarios of war between these gangs for possession of territory and the washing of old scores were discovered.
However, these investigations by the Special Prosecution Office will have to be certified in court.
Among them, the criminal case against Pëllumb Gjoka – a strategic government investor, accused of murder and organized criminal group, has been under review since May 2024, while for the other five defendants, the verdict was announced in November.
In October, SPAK sent the “Çopja” group, one of the most powerful and violent gangs in Albania, for trial, a case that is expected to be tried in 2026. Thirty-three members of the criminal group led by the Çopja brothers were sent for trial by the Special Prosecution for thirty-three criminal events, including murder, large-scale money laundering, drug trafficking and corruption. Some of the leaders of this criminal organization are expected to be tried in absentia, as they have not been arrested to date.
SPAK also sent for trial in early December a criminal case against 27 members of Albanian organized crime, part of 7 criminal organizations hit during an operation in May last year when a total of 50 arrest warrants were issued. The investigation, based on data from the encrypted Sky-ECC application, uncovered 18 criminal events related to murder, assistance for illegal border crossing and drug trafficking, and made visible and substantiated the links between crime and politics in Albania.
Former Socialist Party MP Arben Ndoka and defendant Arian Tuku are accused of having, in the role of creators, organizers and leaders of the structured criminal group, in collaboration with other members, during 2020 provided conditions and material means to commit the murder of citizens Durim Bami and Valter Bami.
In May, SPAK also brought to trial the criminal case against 11 members of organized crime in Tirana, Durrës and Elbasan, including Suel Çela, Ervis Martinaj, Talo Çela and Florenc Çapja. They are accused of having committed a series of serious criminal acts, such as murder, injury, destruction of property with explosives, armed robbery and violence, etc., through cooperation as a structured criminal group, events that occurred over the last two decades in several regions of the country.
