Sali Berisha, a former Albanian president and prime minister, announced on September 11 he has been formally charged with corruption in connection with a controversial property deal, denouncing the charges as politically driven.

Berisha, 79, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, has been under investigation since October, accused of abusing his position to aid his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, in privatising public land in Tirana.

The former premier, who has been under house arrest since December after failing to comply with a previous order to report to authorities every two weeks, was also barred from international travel.

Berisha appeared at the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) on September 11, where he spent about half an hour learning of the formal charges. 

"I was called as a defendant and handed a file of evidence, some 500 pages long," Berisha told reporters outside the prosecutors' office, according to a video posted on his Facebook page. 

Malltezi was informed of corruption charges against him on the same day. 

Berisha has long denounced the investigation as a politically motivated attack orchestrated by Prime Minister Edi Rama, leader of the ruling Socialist Party. In a lengthy Facebook post, Berisha accused Rama of creating a "monster" not seen in Albania since the communist era. 

Berisha’s supporters gathered outside the prosecutors' office, also criticising the Socialist government.

Berisha served as Albania’s prime minister from 2005-2013 and as president from 1992-1997. 

He stepped down as leader of the opposition Democratic Party in 2013, after it lost power to Rama’s Socialists, but announced his intention to return as party leader following the party’s latest general election defeat in 2021. Since then, the party has been torn apart by political infighting between Berisha and his rivals, a power struggle that Berisha ultimately won, allowing him to regain control of the Democrats. 

In May 2021, the US government banned Berisha and his immediate family from entering the country due to their alleged involvement in corruption. At the time, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Berisha of engaging in corrupt practices during his tenure as prime minister.

He has also been banned from entering the UK, unsuccessfully challenging the ban imposed over alleged criminal links and corruption.