Albania Mayor Arrested Over Road Tender

Police detained Mziu on Friday evening and also issued an arrest warrant for the head of the legal department of the municipality, Atli Hoti, who is accused together with the mayor of rigging a road tender in the municipality worth 80 million lek (569,000 euro).

The probe was launched after a local company, Gjoka Konstruksion, alerted the prosecutor’s office that it had been disqualified illegally from the tender after being declared the winner during the procurement process.

Mziu, who belongs to the opposition Democratic Party, denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the company had been disqualified for a “lack of documents”.

“I am innocent and everything was in accordance with the procurement rules,” he told the daily Gazeta Shqiptare in a statement.

The mayor is well-known in Albania for naming the streets of his city, which is located on the outskirts of the capital Tirana, after major world cities like Washington DC, New York and London.

Mziu also named Kamza’s main boulevard, the Blue Boulevard, after the Democratic Party’s colours, and the street in front of the municipality building Sali Berisha Street in honour of former Prime Minister Berisha.

The Democratic Party lost in a landslide to the Socialists in the June 23 parliamentary elections and Berisha resigned from the chairmanship.

The new leader of the Democrats, Lulzim Basha, said in a statement that the party would closely monitor Mziu’s trial, underlining that he was “innocent until proven guilty”.

“The Democratic Party is open to any investigation in every case but the process must be transparent and in accordance with the law,” he said.