Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha was placed under house arrest on December 30 following a court order. 

Berisha and his son-in-law are suspects in a case concerning the sale of the Partizani sports complex back in 2008. 

House arrest was ordered after MPs voted to lift Berisha’s parliamentary immunity while he is investigated for corruption. 

The decision was made by Judge Irena Gjoka of the First Instance Special Court on Corruption and Organised Crime, which handles cases involving high-ranking officials and politicians. 

Berisha, a former president and prime minister of Albania, violated a previous requirement to check in every two weeks, and he was also prohibited from traveling abroad.

Berisha's lawyer, Genc Gjokutaj, said the court also ordered that he be prevented from communicating with anyone outside of his immediate family, according to media reports. Berisha’s legal team plan to challenge the order. 

According to reports in the Albanian media, police officers arrived at Berisha’s residence in downtown Tirana after the court order was issued. 

Albania’s Special Prosecution Office (SPAK) claimed in a statement posted on its website that Berisha’s son in law Jamarber Malltezi exploited Berisha's position as prime minister to privatise the complex, which was then sold at a reduced price to Malltezi. 

The politician contends that the investigation and his arrest are politically motivated and orchestrated by his political rival, Prime Minister Edi Rama. He has warned of powerful protests in response. 

In a New Year message posted on Facebook on December 31, Berisha likened Albania under Rama to Vladimir Putin's Russia and Aleksandar Lukashenko's Belarus. 

In the months since the investigation was announced, lawmakers loyal to Berisha have repeatedly disrupted parliamentary sessions, building chair barricades, setting off flares and burning papers inside the parliament.

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. 

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.