The former deputy prime minister of Albania, Arben Ahmetaj, has appealed against his state to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that his rights were violated during the investigations carried out in March 2023.

Ahmetaj and his partner, Erjola Hoxha, are asking the Strasbourg Court to declare the search of their apartment unlawful, arguing that he was still a member of parliament at the time. They point out that under the Albanian Constitution, police cannot search a member of parliament's home without the prior permission of Parliament.

The operation was carried out on March 9, 2023, following an order from the Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime, which had approved the relevant request a day earlier. During the investigation, assets and a Blackberry mobile phone were seized, on which, according to prosecutors, communications with businessmen allegedly involved in the crematorium case had been deleted.

At the same time, Ahmetaj was being pursued by SPAK in Albania and reportedly fled abroad to avoid arrest, which adds further tension to the case and the legal disputes surrounding the investigation.

The case reached the Constitutional Court, which issued its final decision in December 2023, rejecting the former vice president's objections. However, Ahmetaj argues that there was no effective legal means to challenge the legality of the decision, as the order of March 8, 2023, could not be challenged.

In his application to Strasbourg, he alleges a violation of Articles 8 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantee the right to private life and the right to an effective remedy. The European Court asks the Albanian government to submit its legal arguments and relevant examples from national case law, in order to determine whether the constitutional guarantees of parliamentary immunity have been respected.

The Ahmetaj case is considered another test for the credibility of Albanian justice and the independence of institutions in cases involving top political figures.