A funny piece of news that proves the gigantic machinery that Veliaj has put into operation for his release

This Friday morning, most pro-government media outlets produced the same news. Report TV and Shqiptarja.com, Tema newspaper and TV Klan, Dritare and the persecuted News 24, with almost the same images and the same text prepared in the Tirana municipality offices, reported that with the return of powers to Erion Veliaj, employees were working day and night to rehabilitate the capital. 

They were little interested in the conclusion drawn from this news, that until now, when Rama had run the Municipality through Anuela Ristani, the city had been degraded. At the epicenter of this propaganda campaign was the message that Veliaj's return to office was necessary and that his absence was detrimental to the interests of the citizens.

There is no doubt that this ridiculous move, which will show that "Lali" mobilizes the sweepers and municipal workers even at night, is being made with a single purpose: to exert pressure on justice, ahead of the process that opens on September 15th at the High Court, where the proportionality of keeping an elected mayor in custody will be considered. So far, several moves have been made with this purpose.

First, Veliaj withdrew the mandate of representation from Anuela Ristan, not transferring it to any of the vice presidents and implying that he is indispensable in the position he holds.

Secondly, Edi Rama, who once stopped him from taking this step, has issued a statement from the prime minister's office emphasizing that this is the mayor's own competence and giving the political message that he too is in favor of returning his ill-fated dolphin to office.

Third, Veliaj's lobbying company, which has so far spent half a million USD in the US alone to raise awareness of the judicial case, prepares articles with quotes from MEPs and senators who allude to the severe measure of his imprisonment. If you add to these the propaganda apparatus of the majority of the media controlled for years, of those who have not left the prosecutor and the court of the process untainted, of those who, like this morning, have no scruples in publishing news with the title "Veliaj took the powers, the municipality turns night into day", the picture becomes more complete. There are not one or two factors, but an entire coalition of powers, political, governmental, local and media, that in this matter have opposed a judicial power, which is already more captured than free. This coalition of powerful people will at all costs throw Veliaj out, raising a question: will the Supreme Court have the guts to maintain this pressure? Will it be able to judge the duties left by the constitution regarding the proportionality of keeping selected people in prison?

It's hard to say, because with the campaign that Veliaj has undertaken from prison, the dilemma is no longer just about which side the facts and arguments lean in favor of, but above all, how capable the judicial power is of withstanding the concerted pressure of all other powers.

The way the imprisoned mayor is managing his process, the weapons he is using, have turned this issue into a test of the strength, dignity and the frayed independence that may still be left in our justice system. Until now, often abusively, in most cases our courts have decided based on what SPAK requested. But against this practice, an entire alliance has been built in this process. What the outcome will be, this will be shown by the decision that will be taken after mid-September, where if the municipality, the prime minister, the millions of lobbying and the media coalition in their support, manage to bring Erion Veliaj to office, hardly anyone can have any illusions about the Euro-American reform in justice. 

LAPSI.AL