Albanian ex-president Meta held on corruption charges

22/10/2024 6:13

        Albania's former President Ilir Meta has been detained by police over corruption allegations, his lawyer said on Monday, calling the arrest politically motivated.
        
        Meta, 55, who was president from 2017-2022 and now leads the opposition Freedom Party, was returning to the capital Tirana from neighbouring Kosovo when police in black masks stopped his car, video showed.
        
        Police said they had to take him by force.
        
        One of Europe's poorest nations, Albania's politics have been marred by instability and graft since the fall of communism in the early 1990s. That has hindered its goal to join the EU.