With no proof of wrongdoing and strong denials by the government, military and intelligence service, concerns grow over the harm to the image of the military, stemming from opposition’s allegations of drug trafficking using certain facilities of the armed forces.
TIRANA, April 29 – Allegations launched by the opposition Democratic Party that the army logistics have been exploited for illegal drug trafficking continued to dominate headlines last week, despite earlier strong and harsh denials from the army and other government institutions.
Last week the army chief-of-staff made a strong statement denying that army logistics or its basis have been illegally exploited by organized crime to transport drugs.
The army statement also said that there was no evidence from the NATO structures monitoring Albania’s air space.
“There exists no evidence to prove the conjecture expressed in the last weeks. Air forces have documentation from the specialized structures of the Alliance monitoring Republic of Albania’s airspace, which confirm there have been no renegade planes in our space at the date and the time quoted in the media,” said a statement of the armed forces.
It also adds they are ready to put at the disposal of the prosecutor’s office and of the Parliament all the evidence backing their point.
The intelligence service, SHISH, also made a statement denying they had sent any proved evidence to the authorities.
It was a letter allegedly sent by the SHISH head, Visho Ajazi Lika, that became public after it was leaked to local media media.
SHISH expressed concern “about the wave of media and political speculations over the publication of a classified document, which is being abused and damages our work and the interests of the country.”
It said that, “This document not only does not contain any fact confirmed by us regarding drug trafficking through the military infrastructure, but also its spin in the media directly damages the image of the State Information Service.”
There have been continuous statements from the opposition Democrats saying that the Gjader Air Base in northern Albania and some national roads in the south and west have been used by small planes loaded with drugs.
The opposition Democratic Party had accused structures of the government and the army of being involved or not doing enough to stop drugs trafficking.
Both the centre-left government of Prime Minister Edi Rama and the army have rejected the accusations, arguing that Albania’s airspace is monitored by NATO. Following that the governing Socialist lawmakers also initiated an investigative commission at the parliament which was, after a few days of discussion, supported by the opposition Democrats.
Earlier, Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli had asked prosecutor’s office to launch an investigation on the issue.
The Democrats’ leader, Lulzim Basha, repeated the accusations against the government and the army this week at the meeting of the party leadership and the lawmakers.
He repeated that the opposition has evidence of the involvement of the state structures in that traffic. He also said the best lawmakers would be involved in the parliamentary commission.
U.S. Ambassador to Tirana Alexander Arvizu said those making grave accusations of this kind should be careful due to the damage that political rhetoric might have on the the image of the military and the country, but also the way the public would see the accusers should the allegations not be proven to be true.
