Courts
Special court continues Meta and Kryemadhi trial without lawyers, suspends pretrial detention deadlines for former president
The court fined the four lawyers who refused to appear and set the next hearing for Oct. 29; Meta said he is ready to defend himself.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 22, 2026, 11:16 · Updated 12:24 · 2 min read
In brief
- The retained lawyers and two free legal aid lawyers refused to take part in the hearing.
- The court fined the retained lawyers 20,000 lek and the court-appointed ones 5,000 lek.
- Pretrial detention deadlines for Ilir Meta were suspended; the next hearing is on Oct. 29 at 11 a.m.
The Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO) ruled Thursday that the trial of former President Ilir Meta and Monika Kryemadhi will proceed even without their lawyers present if their boycott continues. The court also suspended the pretrial detention deadlines for Meta.
The lawyers retained by the defendants boycotted the hearing, and two lawyers assigned through free legal aid also refused the summons. One of them said she was boycotting, while the other argued that the case did not qualify for free legal aid.
Fines for the lawyers
The panel of judges rejected the requests of all four lawyers to be excused from the trial. The two retained lawyers were fined 20,000 lek each, and the two legal aid lawyers 5,000 lek each. The next hearing was set for Oct. 29 at 11 a.m., when the court is expected to decide whether the trial will proceed without defense counsel.
The prosecutors on the case were not present at the hearing; SPAK, the Special Anti-Corruption Structure, was represented by prosecutor Vladimir Mara.
Meta: A stalling tactic
Ilir Meta told the courtroom he is ready to defend himself and described the situation as a tactic to drag out the trial. He said the head of the National Chamber of Advocates had informed him that a meeting on the situation would be held that same day at the High Judicial Council. Meta also claimed that the prosecution was deliberately absent and sent a different prosecutor to enable the suspension of his pretrial detention deadlines.
The former president and his former wife are being tried by the special court on charges brought by SPAK of corruption, money laundering and concealment of assets. Both have described the trial as politically motivated.
