TIRANA, June 6 – The Prosecutor General’s office will launch a probe regarding the alleged criminal past of Kruja Mayor Artur Bushi alongside Kavaja Mayor Elvis Roshi, who recently announced his resignation to retract it just days later.
The Central Election Committee voted on Thursday to transfer self-declaration forms to the specialized prosecution structure formed under the so-called decriminalization law.
Both mayors are representatives of the Socialist Party and have been frequently accused by the opposition of being involved in criminal activities in the past.
Two weeks ago, the Central Election Committee published the self-declaration forms of MPs, ministers, mayors and local councilors.
It emerged that many of them were tried or convicted for various offences ranging from petty crimes to more serious ones.
Kruja Mayor Artur Bushi representing the Socialist Party was detained in Italy in 2010 on drug trafficking charges, but was later released. He has also had another unspecified arrest in Italy in 1996, according to self-disclosed materials.
Bushi has frequently been mentioned by the opposition as a person with a criminal background.
A few days ago, the opposition Democratic Party staged a protest demanding his resignation.
The Democratic Party maintains that Kruja Mayor Artur Bushi has been involved in prostitution and drug trafficking in Italy under the name Kastriot Cakoni.
Investigations were also launched for Kavaja Mayor Elvis Roshi.
Roshi has admitted to having been detained in Germany and Italy but maintains that none of the crimes are foreseen by the so-called decriminalization law.
Last week, the mayor of Kavaja announced his resignation, but days later he withdrew his resignation after publishing clean criminal records in Italy on his Facebook page.
Roshi stepped down ‘upon learning’ he had been convicted of sexual offenses in Italy while underage.
Meanwhile, a group of Socialist MPs are urging prosecutors to launch a similar probe on Democratic party MP Flamur Noka for allegedly hiding his arrest by Yugoslav authorities in 1991 in the self-declaration form.
Under the law, public officials lose their positions if found to have provided false or withheld information in their statements, but it also makes it a crime punishable with fines or imprisonment.
