Vlora Hyseni scandal/ Former Interior Minister Sandër Lleshi: Those responsible are acting hypocritically, but they must answer to the people

In a reaction on social media, former Interior Minister Sandër Lleshi commented on the scandal involving former head of the State Intelligence Service, Vlora Hyseni, who was placed under house arrest because of her connections with Ergys Agasi.

Lleshi argues that the debate should not focus on Hyseni, but on the intelligence service itself and the way it has been built and controlled over the years.

He is critical, saying that the responsible lawmakers and political leaders are acting hypocritically over the incident, but adds that they must answer the questions citizens have.

According to Lleshi, the current law on the State Intelligence Service is linked to the constitutional provisions of 1991 and, in his view, does not represent a suitable modern basis for the operation of an intelligence service in a democratic state.

He raises the question of why lawmakers have not intervened to reform this legal framework over the past decades.

“Why, through your inaction, have you allowed this intelligence service, which in fact should have been an intelligence service in the proper sense, to operate on the basis of a ridiculous law that is older than the Constitution of Albania itself? Why do you still not understand that, under these circumstances, for nearly three decades, the Intelligence Service has effectively operated without a law?

Why do you still not understand that a service operating ‘de facto’ without a law is a serious potential threat to citizens’ freedoms and rights and, consequently, to the security of the country? Why have you allowed the Intelligence Service to be the least controlled structure in Albania, while its counterparts in NATO countries and other democratic countries are the most closely controlled of all institutions in a normal state?” he says.

“The fate of the former head of the service is now in the hands of the justice system,” Lleshi writes, adding that “the fate of the state intelligence service and the fate of Albania” are to a considerable extent in the hands of the country’s political leaders and representatives.

RESPONSE:

OUR NON-INTELLIGENT SERVICE

The placement of the Director of the State Intelligence Service under arrest appears to have alarmed everyone. The arrest is unprecedented here and beyond, while the service’s alarming deviations from the law have occurred throughout our history.

The anger of ordinary citizens, who no longer know whom to trust in this country, is understandable and justified.

But what is unacceptable is the charade of politicians and lawmakers who rush to wash their hands of the matter or swear to their honesty, morality and integrity, even though they have slept through (at best) nearly three devastating decades for the intelligence service itself.

Public discussion about the former head of the service now has no value, other than diverting the discussion toward trivial romantic details.

The catastrophic earthquake that has occurred must serve as an opportunity to DISCUSS THE SERVICE AND NOT ITS unfortunate HEAD.

The responsible political leaders and lawmakers, who are now acting with complete hypocrisy over the drama, must ask themselves and answer the Albanian people on several important questions:

Do you know that the law currently in force on the State Intelligence Service is based on the Constitutional Provisions of 1991—not on a constitution, but on provisional provisions that remained as ruins from the 1976 Constitution of the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania?!

Do you know which parliament approved these provisions?!

Are you ashamed of this?!

Why, through your inaction, have you allowed this intelligence service, which in fact should have been an intelligence service in the proper sense, to operate on the basis of a ridiculous law that is older than the Constitution of Albania itself?

Why do you still not understand that, under these circumstances, for nearly three decades, the Intelligence Service has effectively operated without a law?

Why do you still not understand that a service operating “de facto” without a law is a serious potential threat to citizens’ freedoms and rights and, consequently, to the security of the country?

Why have you allowed the Intelligence Service to be the least controlled structure in Albania, while its counterparts in NATO countries and other democratic countries are the most closely controlled of all institutions in a normal state?

Of course, many other questions are being raised today as well, but the ones above are the first and most urgent.

THE FATE OF THE FORMER HEAD OF THE SERVICE IS NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, BUT THE FATE OF THE STATE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE AND THE FATE OF ALBANIA ARE TO A CONSIDERABLE EXTENT IN THE HANDS OF THE COUNTRY’S POLITICAL LEADERS AND REPRESENTATIVES.

The immediate halt to the incalculable damage that the service and the country have suffered from this calamity, which is still unfolding, as well as taking measures to build a genuine intelligence service based on democratic and Western principles, experience and standards, is now an urgent national duty.

If you fail to understand this, or if you are unwilling to deal with it because of the millions of other “priorities” you pursue, then at least perform one minimal formal act: change the date on which the law was approved, because it is more than shameful for the Law on the State Intelligence Service to be older than the Constitution of the State itself.

Instead of crying or tearing your hair out in front of the cameras over the drama, remember that this service, under the same law as today, caused colossal damage to the country in the terrible year of 1997.

But today it is no longer possible for everyone to once again rush after the next stone thrown into the river.

No one can accept any longer that the real problem is an unsuitable director.

No and no!

The real problem is that we have a phantom intelligence service—and much more than that…..