The Special Prosecution Office has reacted after reports in several Albanian media outlets, which referred to local media in Verona, Italy, regarding a criminal complaint against the head of SPAK, Altin Dumani.
According to the official explanation, the complaint was filed by citizen Petrit Çela at the Verona Prosecutor's Office for the criminal offense of "defamation." The Italian authorities have requested the archiving of the proceedings, while after the complainant's objection, the case will be reviewed by the Verona Court.
SPAK informs that Petrit Çela used the existence of this report as an argument to request the exclusion of prosecutor Altin Dumani from criminal proceedings no. 193/2023, where his family members, Marjus Lulaj and Mario Çela, are defendants. This request was dismissed on June 19, 2026 by the head of the Special Prosecution Office, who considered it unfounded in law and evidence.
The reaction also emphasizes that Altin Dumani was not part of the investigative group of criminal proceedings in Italy and Albania, did not carry out any investigative actions in this case, and his role was limited only to the institutional signing of the documents for the creation of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), at the initiative of the Italian authorities.
According to SPAK, Dumani only became aware of the existence of the complaint in Italy in May 2026, after the Verona Prosecutor's Office had already filed a request to archive the proceedings. The Special Prosecutor's Office assesses that the chronology of events shows a direct connection between the complaint in Italy and Petrit Çela's interest in removing the prosecutor from the file where his family members are being prosecuted.
SPAK announcement:
Taking into account some news and articles published in some of the local media, which refer to local media sources of Verona in the Republic of Italy, we clarify public opinion as follows:
Citizen Petrit Çela addressed the Head of the Special Prosecution Office, on 20.05.2026 and 18.06.2026, with a request for the exclusion of prosecutor Altin Dumani from criminal proceedings no. 193/2023, where the defendants Marjus Lulaj and Mario Çela (relatives of citizen Petrit Çela) are criminally prosecuted, criminal proceedings in which prosecutor Altin Dumani exercises the function of prosecutor of the case.
In support of the request for exemption, citizen Petrit Çela has presented precisely the fact of the criminal complaint filed in Verona, Italy. The Head of the Special Prosecutor's Office, after evaluating the submitted request and the acts on which it is based, with the decision dated 19.06.2026, decided to "Reject the request", as unsupported by law and evidence.
From the documentation submitted by citizen Petrit Çela, it results that criminal proceedings No. RGNR 3514/2026 – RG GIP 2877/2026 have been registered at the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic at the Court of Verona, Italy, for the criminal offense of "Defamation" (calunnia), provided for by Article 368 of the Italian Criminal Code, based on a complaint filed by citizen Petrit Çela against prosecutor Altin Dumani, who served as Head of the Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime from December 19, 2022 to December 19, 2025.
The Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Verona, after reviewing the documents, submitted on 21.04.2026 a request for archiving (richiesta di archiviazione) of the criminal proceedings, filed on 14.05.2026. Against this request, the person who filed the criminal complaint, Petrit Çela, filed an objection (opposizione) on 11.05.2026, which led to the scheduling of a court hearing at the GIP/GUP Section of the Court of Verona.
From the administered acts, it results that the only identified element that connects prosecutor Altin Dumani with the international cooperation in question is the signing, in the capacity of the Head of the Special Prosecution Office, of an institutional document, dated 11.07.2024, as well as of an Agreement, dated 26.08.2024, for the creation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) between the Special Prosecution Office and the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic at the Court of Verona, an initiative taken by the Italian authorities themselves within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 10792/2023.
Prosecutor Altin Dumani was not part of the investigative group of criminal proceedings no. 10792/2023 (Italy) and no. 123/2024 (Special Prosecutor), did not conduct any investigative actions, interrogations, seizures or requests for seizure, and became aware of the existence of criminal proceedings in Italy only in May 2026, i.e. after the filing of the request for archiving by the Italian Prosecutor's Office.
The above-mentioned chronology shows the connection between the report filed in Italy and the direct family interest that the complainant Petrit Çela has in criminal proceedings no. 193/2023 of the Special Prosecutor's Office, as well as the use of the very fact of the criminal report as a procedural basis for the request for the exclusion of the prosecutor of the case.
