The ruling Socialist Party has submitted two draft laws that target Communist-era collaborators, following a request by the Albanian Information Authority on Former State Security Documents (AIDSSH).
The first law will allow AIDSSH to vet even those politicians have already have undergone a previous background checks for their ties to the Communist regime.
The second bans those politicians who were involved with Sigurimi, the intelligence arm of Albania’s Communist regime, and whose names appear in Sigurimi files, from holding public office.
“The [worrisome] cases shown in AIDSSH’s report to Parliament, where high level politicians who have purity certificates, in fact do appear in Sigurimi files, require a direct and immediate response,” Klotilda Bushka, head of the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Matters, told media.
Earlier this week, AIDSSH issued a report to Parliament where it stated that it had carried out an assessment of some 446 MP candidates and found that five names appeared involved with Sigurimi.
The names included a high profile politician whose initials I.M. were later confirmed to belong to former President Ilir Meta.
Meta denies the claims that the initials refers to him and said AIDSSH has manipulated the files.
In its report to Parliament, AIDSSH asked it to intervene because the current law protects former collaborators through a loophole: AIDSSH is no longer required to audit those who have already been reviewed by previous commissions, and it cannot override a purity certificate issued by such a commission in the past.
