The Albanian State Police announced in the morning today the arrest of former Socialist Party MP Alqi Bllako. He is accused of abuse of office and relinquished his MP mandate on Wednesday to be investigated by the Special Prosecution against Corruption (SPAK) but wasn’t found when police went to his house to arrest him yesterday and there were suspicions that he had left the country.

There is a huge deception in the short announcement of the police about Bllako’s arrest. They did not tell the hour of the arrest, only that he turned himself in the other evening.

“The General Directorate of the State Police informs the public that, unlike the fake news on the escape of the citizen Alqi Bllako, this citizen is in the Tirana Police Department since last evening”, the State Police said.

However, SPAK declared officially today that Bllako was arrested on Friday, so today, not the last evening. SPAK also said it had requested from the State Police to monitor Bllako’s movements.

“The arrest warrant was executed from the State Police on April 1, 2022, at 3:30”, SPAK said in its statement.