The Special Court of Appeal against Corruption and Organized Crime has decided to annul the previous decision of the Special Court of First Instance (GJKKO), which had ordered the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption (SPAK) to open an investigation into former Foreign Minister Olta Xhaka and her husband, Artan Gaci. The court ruled that the conditions for opening a preliminary investigation against them were not met.
The case concerns a complaint by the former mayor of Himara, Fredis Beleris, according to which the defendants are allegedly involved in abuse of power, illegal acquisition of property and money laundering, in the context of a case related to the acquisition of an investment status for a specific business activity.
The initial decision of The gJKKO had accepted the complaint and had ordered SPAK to proceed with the registration of criminal proceedings and initiate investigative actions on the charges of abuse of power, forgery of documents and money laundering.
However, SPAK appealed against this decision and the Special Court of Appeal upheld its appeal. Specifically, the Court of Appeal decided:
To annul the decision of February 28, 2025 of the First Instance Special Court.
To dismiss the appeal of the complainant (Frendis Beleris), who requested the annulment of the SPAK decision that had previously rejected the prosecution, as well as the issuance of an order to initiate criminal proceedings and conduct investigations.
Thus, with the new decision of The Special court of appeal, any obligation For sPAK to investigate the case in depth ceases, which means that for the time being no official criminal proceedings will be initiated Against Olta xhaka and Artan Gaci.
