Kamza mayor arrested, charged with abuse of post

TIRANA, Dec. 24 – In one of the highest-profile arrests of public officials to date, law enforcement authorities said they had arrested Kamza Mayor Xhelal Mziu, 46, under charges of rigging a public tender worth 80 million lek.
Another official of the Kamza Municipality, Atli Hoti, is still wanted in the case.
Police reported that the investigation started after another company complained at the prosecutor’s office that it had been disqualified illegally from the tender after being originally being declared the winner during the procurement process.
Mziu has denied any wrongdoing as a Tirana court denied him bail.
“I am innocent and everything was in accordance with the procurement rules,” Mziu told a local newspaper.
Police also reported that a stamp of an election commission in the area was found at their house.
The Kamza mayor, a senior leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Lulzim Basha, is known for naming the streets of his town, close to capital Tirana, after major world cities or after names of big world personalities, including his former party leader and former Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
Basha said that the party would closely monitor Mziu’s trial, underlining that he was “innocent until proven guilty.”
“The Democratic Party is open to any investigation in every case but the process must be transparent and in accordance with the law,” he said.
The recent increase in prosecutions in the fight against corruption seems to have involved every corner in the country, despite the political affiliation.
Mziu is the first official of the local authorities belonging to Democratic Party in opposition that is charged.
In another case, the Socialist mayor of the southwestern port city of Vlora has been charged, while media report that investigation has also started against a group of officials at the eastern town of Pogradec, also of abuse of post and public money. Both the Pogradec and Vlora cases involve officials of the governing Socialist Party.