The placement under "house arrest" of the head of the State Intelligence Service, Vlora Hyseni, as well as the controls exercised by SPAK against former police chief Ilir Proda, have brought harsh reactions from the civic protest platform in front of the Prime Minister's Office building.
From the square, one of the protesters described the event as one of the biggest scandals of the Albanian state, directly accusing Prime Minister Edi Rama of having transformed Albania into a "banana republic" where national security institutions were subservient to the exponents of crime.
"Today, the head of SHISH Vlora Hyseni has been placed under house arrest by SPAK and checks have been carried out on former police chief Ilir Proda, where he could be arrested very soon. These are some of the biggest scandals and the Rama government has a new scandal every day. Only in banana republics has the head of the intelligence service been arrested!" he declared.
The protester denounced the leakage of information of critical importance for national security to private and criminal networks, focusing on the connection between the head of SHISH, Ergys Agas, and other senior officials.
"He sold secret information to a criminal like Ergys Agasi who is behind bars! In what normal country that will join the EU would this information be passed to Ergys Agasi's secret office and administered by his lover through videos?! Is this a normal country or Ergys Agasi's country?!" the protester said in a harsh tone.
He further rejected the prime minister's claims that he was late in learning about the event, citing the executive's direct responsibility over institutions such as the National Agency for the Protection of Children and Youth and the selection of cadres from Kosovo.
"Edi Rama made a statement that he allegedly saw the event late. He knew because AKSHI is an institution under his control and he has direct responsibility for this institution! He brought Vlora Hyseni from Kosovo where he was dismissed by Albin Kurti and put him in charge of SHISH, how is he not responsible?!"
In concluding his speech in front of the executive building, the protester emphasized that the usual political shield of "individual responsibility" can no longer be used when it comes to the direct appointees of the prime minister.
"The phrase that responsibility is personal no longer holds water because Rama himself is the architect, the one who establishes, removes and instructs these crimes to be committed! Vlora Hyseni, Ergys Agasi, Ermal Beqiri and others do not act on their own, but because he gives them permission, appoints them and gives them money and tenders!" he concluded from the podium in the square.
