Vladimir Gjuta is being held without bail on charges of setting explosives targeting the family of interior minister
TIRANA, June 20 – A Tirana court has denied bail to Vladimir Gjuta, the man arrested on charges of orchestrating the explosion that occurred earlier this year at the pharmacy owned by Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri’s father.
Gjuta told the court he was not involved in the incident.
Police had declared Gjuta a suspect for months, and he had been on the run, after a few other arrests were made in relation to the attack.
He allegedly sent an SMS message to Tahiri directly telling the minister to leave the Gjuta family alone.
Gjuta was arrested as he traveled in a car owned by an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo on the way to the northeastern city of Kukes.
The Kosovar driver said that he had taken Gjuta only as a passenger and did not know him.
Police said Gjuta masked himself to escape police controls. But police knew where he was and arrested him at a large highway tunnel in Kalimash, where he could not have a chance to run.
The early February explosion only caused damage to the wall of the pharmacy, and police added they also defused another explosive device at a bus shelter near the home of Tahiri’s father.
The use of small explosive devices in acts of targeted violence is not rare in Albania, but this is the first time the family of a cabinet minister has been targeted and the first time such explosive devices have been left in a public place like a bus shelter.
Tahiri said at the time that it is not easy to see his family threatened, but added h won’t be intimidated from doing his job as part of the government’s anti-crime drive.
Prime Minister Edi Rama called the explosion “an act of terror” in a statement. He tied the explosions to the government’s recent rule of law operations across the country.
