Tirana Prosecutor’s Office has initiated criminal proceedings against the former Socialist candidate for Shkodra Municipality Valdrin Pjetri. Authorities had been delayed in confirming his past because in Italy he had given a different identity.
Sources for Ora-News said that in 2003 Valdrin Pjetri was registered under a slightly different first name – Valdrim – with Italian authorities. This has caused delays in verifying his identity.
Five months after being denounced by the opposition, the Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed that Mayor-elect Pjetri did not declare a 2003 arrest, conviction and deportation from Italy for being in possession of drugs.
About a month later, local media reported that prosecutors had registered criminal proceedings against him.
Pjetri is charged with falsifying the decriminalization form, which is considered a crime punishable with 6 months to 4 years in prison, and a ban from exercising public office for a certain period of time.
In addition to Pjetri, the Opposition has also accused the mayors of Vau i Dejes and Vora, Mark Babani and Agim Kajmaku, of concealing their criminal past before running for office. The prosecution issues an arrest warrant for Kajmaku, after it found opposition accusations to be true. Kajmaku is still on the run.
