TIRANA, Albania, April 15, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The court trying former Albanian premier Sali Berisha on corruption charges will, at his request, call incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama as a witness, a court spokeswoman told AFP Wednesday.

Berisha, the opposition leader who has been organising anti-government protests for weeks, has been on trial since July for "passive corruption of a high official" before the Special Court Against Corruption and Organised Crime.

The alleged wrongdoing, involving his son-in-law, was linked to the privatisation of public land in the capital Tirana. It goes back to 2008 during Berisha's term as prime minister.

The 81-year-old leader of the main opposition right-wing Democratic Party has repeatedly rejected the accusations against him as "purely political" and accused Rama, his long-time rival, of being behind them.

Berisha has therefore asked the court to call Rama, who was Tirana mayor when the alleged wrongdoing occurred, as a witness.

It is not known when Rama might be heard, but the next hearing is scheduled for April 30.

Berisha, Albania's first democratically elected president after the fall of communism in the early 1990s, served a five-year term as head of state.

He was Albania's prime minister from 2005 to 2013.

In 2021 he was banned from entering the United States, and later Britain over his alleged involvement in organised crime and corruption, accusations he rejected.

But Rama's government has also been shaken by corruption cases. Deputy prime minister Belinda Balluku, accused of corruption in a public procurement case, was dismissed earlier this year.

The fight against corruption is among key criteria for Albania's bid to join the European Union.