Like Enver’s Anonymous Letter on Mehmet

By Jonila Godole | Albanian Daily News, 29 July 22

At the time when Enver announced Mehmet Shehu as a poly-agent, an anonymous person had submitted several photocopies of documents to our Embassy in Vienna, which incriminated the incumbent Prime Minister. The end is known. I was reminded of this yesterday when I was informed by the media about the status of the Security Dossier Authority, that they had discovered the file of a former colleague of the State Security who is a high political figure, with the initials I. M. (?)

My opinion, as you publicly know, has been and remains unwavering, that we must break with the past. One way to do this is to make transparent the names of politicians or other high officials who have been collaborators of State Security during the dictatorship times. They have usurped political life and are holding the country’s transition and development hostage, precisely because they are blackmailable. However, being familiar with the way the Dossier Authority works, I want to pose some questions in the interest of public opinion:

1. Does the Authority operate and is always set in motion by anonymous emails or letters?
2. How much time does the Authority take to check and verify the information received?
3. The Parliament of Albania has been informed about the subject I. M., while the subject is not a member of Parliament, and the Parliament has not shown any interest in verifying him. Why hasn’t it informed the Parliament for other cases, such as the “Cingarja” one (Gramoz Ruçi), for which there was a different answers from the “Mezini” Commission?
4. Why is the problem with the previous Figures’ Commission coming out today, when their decision-making had an executive character and not informative like today?
5. The other cases that are marked with initials by the institution belong to officers and associates of the State Security, who today hold high positions in the Police, but for whom the Authority has not been so cooperative in their vetting process.

Let’s face it, it would be great news and service to Albanian taxpayers if the Dossier Authority finally discovered the “big fish”. However a serious institution does not make Facebookish announcements without doing in-depth research and without attaching to the file all the incriminating documents of the person in question.

Otherwise, one might think that the Authority is using the power of the law and archival documents to blackmail certain people, just like the State Security during the dictatorship times.

* This op-ed was originally published on the Albanian daily “Gazeta Shqiptare”.