The Prosecution in Vlora has sought 9 years imprisonment for former Vlora mayor Shpëtim Gjika, who is accused of falsifying documents and abuse of office.
Gjika was arrested in February 2015 after a denunciation related to the construction of 11-floor building in Vlora. Developer Artur Haxhi and Director of Territorial Planning and Control Doriana Sulaj were also arrested.
According to the Prosecution, Sulaj and Gjika produced falsified documents to allow illegal construction projects along the coast line. More precisely, four different documents were falsified, three of which are related to three decisions made on January 17, 2011, by the Territorial Council of the Vlora Municipality. The fourth one is related to a building permit from June 2013. The three documents from 2011 were not included into the protocol of the January 17 meeting, raising doubts that they were falsified by Gjika and Sulaj to help developer Haxhi.
This is the second time that former mayor Gjika is faced with this type of accusations. On November 27, 2015, the Court of Tirana declared him innocent in a similar case involving building permits for two other buildings in Vlora.
