Anti-Constitutional usage of the Armed Forces. This is the object of the
two recent lawsuits filed at the Prosecution by the Ministry of
Defense, an accusation that has never been raised during the past 23
years.
The announcement of the Ministry of Defense is very reserved in information about this issue. By the announcement we learn that both cases sent at the Prosecution are about an anti-constitutional usage of the Armed Forces.
The Ministry of Defense say they support the accusation for violating the laws: law for Armed Forces in the Republic of Albania, and the law that regulates the powers, commanding authorities and the strategic leadership of the Armed Forces.
The short notification of the Ministry of Defense doesn’t say when the Army has been used against the Constitution. But they say that the issue is very sensible and holds secret information of national security, and that’s why no other details have been given.
But Top Channel has been able to secure from unofficial sources information showing that these cases implicate very high officials of the Ministry and the army. The lawsuits are against the former Minister, Arben Imami; the former Chief of Staff, Xhemal Gjunkshi, and the former Chief of the Military Secret Service, Ylli Zyla. But sources say that there are even more people implicated.
The criminal acts mentioned in the indictment are power abuse and abuse with government contributions. Preliminary information shows that the power abuse is related to the usage of the army during the electoral campaign of the June 23rd elections.
The inclusion of the former Director of the Military Secret Service, Ylli Zula, is related to the usage of spying equipment, which was described by the former opposition as part of an Albanian Watergate.
The order signed by Arben Imami says that the equipment would be used to support the contingents of the Armed Forces outside our country. But it has been discovered that the equipment has never been used in the peace keeping missions in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Another interesting fact is related to the absence of documents in the archive of the Ministry of Defense about the usage of this equipment, a fact that according to experts raises suspicions about the elimination of the documentation by Military Service leaders who use the spying equipment.
Experts have reached the conclusion that the equipment has been functional after it was bought, but there is no document which shows that NATO has been informed about its purchase.
Another serious fact is that experts have found out that the memory of the equipment has been deleted after June 27th 2013, four days after the general elections.
According to them, this shows that the equipment has been used during the electoral campaign.
The former opposition Parliament Members, Taulant Balla and Erion Brace, accused the former government of using this equipment to spy on the opposition leaders and foreign diplomats who had been criticizing the former Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha.
Kodheli: Llalla, investigating Imami’s accusations
Drug traffic accusations, DP: Hearing session with Kodheli
The accusation of the former Minister of Defense, Arben Imami, saying that the Albanian military is being used for drug traffic, could be considered as the most serious accusations launched in the past decades.
The accusation becomes even more serious since Albania is a member of the NATO. For this reason, the Minister of Defense, Mimi Kodheli, asked the Prosecutor General, Adriatic Llalla, to react immediately on these accusations.
The Minister of Defense notes her concern about these accusations, saying that their purpose is to make the Armed Forces part of the anti-government propaganda. Through a letter she asks the Prosecutor General to announce if they have started any investigation.
“If no investigation has started based on April 11th, I want to reiterate the necessity of starting it as soon as possible”, declared the Minister of Defense, Mimi Kodheli.
But the Democratic Party gave a harsher reaction and considered the communication of the Minister of Defense with the Prosecutor General as unacceptable and arrogant.
“This is an unprecedented communication, where the Minister orders the Prosecution to investigate the opposition and their Parliament Members. This majority forgets that they were voted to govern, not to become Prosecutors or Court Presidents, or leaders of other institutions”, declared Parliament Member Flamur Noka.
The Democratic Party’s accusation for using the army for drug traffic will be discussed these days in Parliament, since the opposition has made an official request for summoning the Minister of Defense in a hearing session.
“We think that this report is extremely important, and the Minister must make it in front of the Parliament Members and Commission of Security, because our facts show that the Armed Forces have been misused for drug traffic. The image of the Armed Forces has never been damaged before like that. The image of our country as a NATO member has been damaged, and this is why we want the truth about this”, Noka declared.
Top Channel
