Former President of Albania Ilir Meta is the high-level politician referred to in a recent reported by the Albanian Information Authority on Former State Security Documents (AIDSSH) which pinpoints five public and elected officials as involved with Sigurimi, the feared intelligence arm of Albania’s oppressive communist regime.
In a document forwarded by AIDSSH to Parliament on Wednesday (27 July), the Authority confirms the identity of the high profile political figure referred to as “I.M.” in the initial report.
“Following our previous requests and proposals, but especially being encouraged by the most recent denunciation that came to the institution on the purity of the image of one of the highest personalities of the state, former president of the Republic, Ilir Metaj… it turns out that he actually appears in the documents created by the former State Intelligence Structure,” AIDSSH states.
Two former commissions were established to run background checks on politicians and their ties to the communist regime awarded Meta a “purity certificate”. A loophole in the current law does not empower AIDSSH to audit politicians who have passed these initial background checks, nor to override the purity certificate.
The institution reviewed Meta’s past following a formal request to their office.
In their Tuesday report, AIDSSH asked Parliament to update current laws, so that they may be able to continue their work.
Recently, AIDSSH carried out an assessment of some 446 MP candidates and found that five had been Sigurimi collaborators, including Meta according to the latest information.
Meta served as President of Albania between 2017 and 2022. He is also the co-founder of the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI), recently rebranded as the Freedom Party. After stepping down from his post as President on Sunday, Meta was reappointed chairman of Albania’s second opposition party.
