TIRANA, Albania — An Albanian court on Wednesday released from house arrest former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the opposition Democratic Party and is charged with corruption.
The Special Court for Corruption and Organized Crime, which covers cases involving senior officials and politicians, revoked its order for Berisha's house arrest, issued almost a year ago, without giving any reason.
Berisha's parliamentary immunity was removed in December 2023 and he was placed under house arrest after he violated an earlier order to report to the court every two weeks. He was also barred from traveling abroad, but that order was struck down last week by the Constitutional Court.
Berisha, 80, hailed hundreds of supporters waiting for him at the Democratic Party's headquarters shouting his name.
''Today we are nearer than ever to our triumph, the Democratic Party's return to power,'' he told the crowd, repeating the party's call to the governing Socialists to create a technocratic caretaker cabinet to take the country to free elections.
During his period of house arrest, Berisha stayed in his apartment in downtown Tirana. Though he was banned from communicating with other people than his family and lawyers, every evening he gave speeches to small groups of supporters gathered outside his building.
Depriving Berisha of communication and physical presence to lead his party was a daily issue in Albania's politics because he's the leader of the main opposition party. A parliamentary election will take place next spring.
In October 2023, prosecutors put him under investigation for allegedly abusing his post to help his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, privatize public land to build 17 apartment buildings in the capital, Tirana.
