The Special Prosecution Office has rejected the request of Petrit Çela, the father of Suel Çela, to exclude prosecutor Altin Dumani from the criminal case where his family members are under investigation.
Çela’s request was directed at SPAK’s head, Klodjan Braho, with the argument that a criminal complaint had been filed against Dumani in Italy for defamation. However, after reviewing the request and the submitted documentation, Braho decided to reject it, calling it unsupported by law and evidence.
According to SPAK, Petrit Çela addressed the Special Prosecution Office on May 20 and June 18, 2026, requesting the removal of Duman from criminal proceedings no. 193/2023, where Marjus Lulaj and Mario Çela are prosecuted.
Çela based the request on a complaint filed with the Verona Prosecutor’s Office in Italy against Dumani for the criminal offense of “defamation”, according to the Italian Criminal Code.
According to the Special Prosecution Office, Dumani’s only connection to the international proceedings was the signing, in his capacity as head of SPAK, of institutional documents for the creation of a joint investigative team with Italian authorities.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Verona, after reviewing the documents, submitted on 21.04.2026 a request for archiving (richiesta di archiviazione) of the criminal proceedings, filed on 14.05.2026. Against this request, the person who filed the criminal complaint Petrit Çela filed an objection (opposizione) on 11.05.2026, which led to the scheduling of a court hearing at the GIP/GUP Section of the Court of Verona.
From the administered acts, it results that the only identified element that connects prosecutor Altin Dumani with the international cooperation in question is the signing, in the capacity of the Head of the Special Prosecution Office, of an institutional document, dated 11.07.2024, as well as of an Agreement, dated 26.08.2024, for the creation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) between the Special Prosecution Office and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic at the Court of Verona, an initiative taken by the Italian authorities themselves within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 10792/2023.
Prosecutor Altin Dumani was not part of the investigative group of criminal proceedings no. 10792/2023 (Italy) and no. 123/2024 (Special Prosecutor), did not conduct investigative actions, interrogations, seizures or requests for seizure, and became aware of the existence of criminal proceedings in Italy only in May 2026, i.e. after the filing of the request for archiving by the Italian Prosecutor’s Office,” says SPAK.