Kurbin: three convicted of buying votes for the Socialist Party in the May 2025 election
Status: First-instance conviction, 5 February 2026 (GJKKO decision no. 8); appeal possible within 15 days. Appeal outcome not found.
Summary
On 5 February 2026 the Special Court (GJKKO) convicted three people in a shortened trial of promising, offering and giving money to voters in Kurbin municipality in exchange for votes for the Socialist Party during the campaign for the 11 May 2025 parliamentary election (SPAK proceeding no. 55 of 2025). One was convicted of active and two of passive electoral corruption. Each sentence of 1 year was reduced to 8 months and suspended with 18 months of probation.
The defendants are private individuals and are not named here. The court reports reviewed do not name any PS candidate or official as having organised the payments.
Key facts
- GJKKO decision no. 8, 5 February 2026; SPAK criminal proceeding no. 55 of 2025.
- Money was given to Kurbin voters in exchange for votes for the Socialist Party in the 11 May 2025 election.
- Sentences: 1 year each, reduced to 8 months, suspended with 1 year 6 months of probation.
The record
Four lists kept apart on purpose: what is established, what is only alleged, what is still open, and what those concerned said.
What is proven (1)
Established by documents or official records, as stated in the research. A recorded charge or indictment proves only that the accusation was made.
- A first-instance court found that three people bought votes for the Socialist Party in Kurbin in the 2025 campaign.
What is alleged (1)
Accusations, not findings. Those accused are presumed innocent.
- AllegationVote buying for the Socialist Party in Kurbin in the May 2025 election (prosecution).
Open questions (2)
- Who provided the money, and did the payers act for a candidate or party official?
- Was the verdict appealed?
Responses (1)
Responses of the people and organisations concerned, as recorded.
- Not stated in the article. Not confirmed in the original source: any response by the Socialist Party.
Timeline
Full timeline →Court
GJKKO convicts three over vote buying for the Socialist Party in Kurbin
First-instance decision no. 8, suspended sentences; appeal possible within 15 days (Shqiptarja, 5 Feb 2026).
Court
Special Court convicts three of buying votes for the PS in Kurbin
Shortened trial; 8-month suspended sentences for promising and giving money to voters in the May 2025 campaign.
Hypotheses
Possible explanations that connect this record with other findings. They are not findings; each lists the evidence for and against.
- Source label: Unverified
Vote buying in local and parliamentary elections in the north-west and Kukës follows a repeated pattern
Two separate SPAK and GJKKO files involve cash offers to voters for the Socialist Party in 2025: Kurbin (convictions, Feb 2026) and Ujmisht, Kukës (charges, May 2025). If both reflect the same local networks, they would point to a pattern rather than isolated incidents.
Evidence for
- GJKKO convicted three people over vote buying in the Kurbin election of 11 May 2025 (decision no. 8, 5 Feb 2026).
- SPAK charged two men in Ujmisht, Kukës, over money for votes in the same election (13 May 2025); SPAK is still looking for recipients.
Evidence against
- The two cases are in different districts and were not reported as linked.
- The Ujmisht party affiliation is disputed in the article, and no party-level finding is reported.
- Source label: Unverified
Electoral support is traded for protection and favours
Courts have now confirmed cases where votes were bought for the Socialist Party (Kurbin, 2025) and where a Socialist MP leaked police secrets to a wanted man who helped him win votes (Jurgis Çyrbja). The 2016 Dibra recordings and the 2025 OSCE findings on vote buying and links to crime point the same way. The pattern suggests that some candidates rely on people who expect protection in return.
Evidence for
- Appeal court upheld Jurgis Çyrbja's conviction for electoral corruption and passing police secrets (24 April 2026).
- Special Court convicted three people of buying votes for the PS in Kurbin (5 February 2026).
- OSCE/ODIHR reported vote buying and party links to crime in the 2025 election.
Evidence against
- No court has found that party leaders organised these acts.
- Opposition candidates have also been convicted of vote buying.
- The Dibra 2016 file was largely time-barred and never tried.
- Source label: Unverified
Votes in exchange for protection: some PS candidates may have relied on people linked to crime for electoral support
In the Çyrbja case a court found that a sitting PS MP leaked police secrets to a wanted man who helped him get votes. Together with OSCE observers' reports of vote buying and party links to crime in the 2025 election, the Kurbin vote-buying conviction, and earlier cases already in the archive, this suggests a pattern where electoral support is traded for protection or favours. Whether it is a party practice or the conduct of individuals is not established.
Evidence for
- Court-confirmed conviction of PS MP Jurgis Çyrbja for electoral corruption combined with leaking police secrets (2025–2026).
- First-instance conviction for buying votes for the PS in Kurbin in the 2025 campaign (February 2026).
- OSCE/ODIHR reported vote buying and party links to crime in the 2025 election (already recorded in the archive).
Evidence against
- No court has found that the party leadership organised or knew of these acts.
- The Kurbin defendants are private individuals; no candidate was named.
- Opposition candidates have also been convicted of vote buying (e.g. Himarë, Rrogozhinë), so the practice is not limited to one party.
Sources for this record
Every source the research cites for this record, grouped by its source label. 1 source.
Source label: VerifiedVerified · 1 source
- Publisher
- Shqiptarja
- Date
- 5 Feb 2026