Albanian Mayor Leads From Prison With Help From an AI Avatar, Pledging Free School Lunches

The mayor of the Albanian capital, Tirana, Erion Veliaj, has appeared via an artificial‑intelligence avatar while in pre‑trial detention. The AI‑generated video, posted on Instagram, shows a digital version of Veliaj speaking in front of Albanian and municipal flags. Instagram labelled the post with an 'AI content' tag.

Veliaj has been held since February 2025 as he faces allegations including corruption, money laundering and hiding assets. Prosecutors allege the case involves about €1 million in bribes and municipal funds. Veliaj and his wife, who also accused, deny wrongdoing.

The charges have not been tested at trial, and Veliaj is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Avatar Makes Political Promises From Detention

The four-minute address opens with Veliaj thanking Tirana residents as the new school year begins. Shorter clips from the broadcast have also circulated online.

In the video, the avatar describes his 20-month detention as 'hostage-taking' and says artificial intelligence is his only way to communicate with the public from his cell. It points to projects completed during his time in office, including nurseries and schools built after Albania's 2019 earthquake.

The avatar repeats a campaign promise to provide free school lunches and highlights 170 new education and childcare facilities built during his time in office.

Veliaj remains the legal mayor of Tirana despite his detention. The city council voted to remove him in 2025, but Albania's Constitutional Court ruled the dismissal unconstitutional.

A Supreme Court ruling has kept Veliaj in custody, and he is expected to remain acting mayor until 2027. Before his detention, he delegated day-to-day responsibilities to several deputy mayors.

Video Splits Opinion in Albania

The post drew more than 3,000 likes from supporters, but also drew criticism on Albanian social media. Some commenters described the video as a 'farce' and questioned how an official facing serious allegations could make political commitments while detained.

The AI avatar places Veliaj among political figures using synthetic media amid legal or political restrictions around the world. Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has used AI-generated speeches from prison to reach supporters. In Brazil, an AI avatar of Jair Bolsonaro was used during his son's campaign.

Albania is outside the European Union, but the EU's compulsory AI labelling rules, which took effect in August 2026, can also apply to some uses of AI outside the bloc.

Private platforms also carry some of the transparency burden. In this case, Instagram applied its own AI label to the video.

Critics argue that synthetic avatars can let detained politicians address voters through controlled messages rather than direct public accountability. Supporters see them as a way for elected officials to remain visible while physically cut off from the public.

Albania has already experimented with AI at the government level. In 2025, Prime Minister Edi Rama introduced 'Diella', a virtual minister presented as a tool to monitor corruption in public projects.

The actress Anila Bisha later said her face, voice and likeness had been used without her full consent. She said she had agreed to a chatbot and later faced harassment and abuse.

The government denied misusing her likeness and described her lawsuit as 'nonsense'.