Albania's anti-corruption court summons incumbent PM Rama as witness in the Partizani corruption trial of opposition leader Berisha

Summary

Albania's Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Court, SPAK, accepted in April 2026 a request by former Prime Minister and Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha to call incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama as a witness in the Partizani privatisation corruption case. Berisha appeared before SPAK on 15 June 2026 under a compulsory appearance measure after prior non-compliance with proceedings. The case charges Berisha with passive corruption of a high official: prosecutors allege that as Prime Minister in 2008, he approved privatisation procedures for the former Partizani sports complex in central Tirana in a manner that generated approximately €5.4 million in benefit for his son-in-law Jamarbër Malltezi. Berisha denies all charges and has consistently described the prosecution as "purely political." Rama was Mayor of Tirana when the Partizani transaction occurred, a position that gives him potentially relevant knowledge of municipal proceedings. Berisha's legal team has used the Rama witness request as a strategy to broaden the case into a confrontation between Albania's two dominant political figures, complicating what would otherwise be a relatively contained criminal proceeding. A separate corruption case involving Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, from Rama's own coalition, over alleged interference in two construction contracts worth more than €200 million, is also before SPAK and has added to political pressure on the government.

The split

Berisha and the Democratic Party framing is that SPAK is being used as a political weapon against the opposition by a government that controls the state apparatus, and that the Partizani case is selective prosecution with a predetermined outcome. Berisha has also claimed in June 2026 that the United States lifted the 2021 travel ban imposed on him and his family, a ban linked to US State Department findings of corruption during his tenure. Rama's government has responded that SPAK is constitutionally independent, that Rama's potential testimony as a witness is a routine legal matter, and that the Balluku investigation proves SPAK is non-partisan. EU officials have cited SPAK's active prosecution of senior figures from across the political spectrum as central to the positive Interim Benchmark Assessment for Albania's accession talks. International legal observers note that having both an opposition leader and a deputy PM under SPAK investigation simultaneously is unprecedented in Albanian political history.

By the numbers

• €5.4 million, alleged benefit to Berisha's son-in-law in the Partizani privatisation case
• 2008, year of the Partizani privatisation approved while Berisha was PM
• 15 June 2026, date Berisha appeared before SPAK under compulsory appearance
• €200 million+, value of the construction contracts at issue in the Balluku corruption case
• 2021, year the US State Department imposed the travel ban on Berisha and his family
• 81, Berisha's age; he has led the Democratic Party in opposition since 2021

Why it matters

The Partizani trial is the most significant criminal proceeding against a major Albanian political figure in SPAK's short existence. Its outcome will test whether Albania's anti-corruption court system, the central institutional reform achievement of the last decade, can prosecute a former prime minister to a verdict. The Rama witness request has made the trial a two-handed political weapon: if Rama testifies and his answers are damaging, Berisha gains; if Rama declines or the court manages his testimony narrowly, Berisha can claim suppression of evidence. For EU accession, the IBAR milestone depends substantially on SPAK's demonstrated independence; any perception that the Partizani case is being managed politically would damage Albania's most important piece of reform evidence.

What to watch

• Whether and when Rama appears before SPAK as a witness, and what the court's scope for his testimony is.
• Whether the Partizani trial produces a verdict before Albania's anticipated 2025 general election cycle.
• Whether the Balluku corruption case reaches the trial phase and whether Balluku retains her cabinet post.
• Whether Berisha's claimed US travel ban lifting changes his legal or political position.