Albanian prosecutors demand arrest of lawmaker and former deputy premier on corruption charges

By LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian special prosecutors have demanded that a lawmaker and former deputy prime minister be arrested on corruption charges, accusing him of failing to declare his assets and other criminal offenses. The Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime, in charge of prosecuting senior officials, made its request public on Monday for the arrest of 54-year-old Arben Ahmetaj. But as lawmaker, Ahmetaj has parliamentary immunity — meaning that Parliament would first need to agree on his arrest before any action to detain him is taken. Two villas belonging to Ahmetaj have been temporarily seized during the investigation.