FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
In 2012, the Albanian Military Intelligence Service wiretapped former Navy Captain Artur Meçollari with the permission of Prosecutor General Ina Rama. The real target was not Meçollari. He was the United States military attaché in Tirana.
Meçollari himself confessed this in the Pamflet podcast “Të Pashoq”. According to Meçollari, all the intercepted conversations were transcribed. In none of them was there contact with Russian, Greek or Chinese people. The three foreign people with whom Meçollari had talked were military attaches of Anglo-Saxon countries. The conversations were of the usual professional nature: business meetings, coffee, daily matters of duty.
The reason why Meçollari was used as an indirect target was technical: the Berisha government could not directly wiretap the American military attaché without causing an immediate diplomatic incident. The wiretap of Meçollari, who regularly collaborated with him, was the indirect route.
-Sali Berisha has publicly called you a spy several times. But let us remember here that you have in your hands, for example, NATO's Top Secret, the well-known certificate. You have been decorated by the former head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, and you have also been thanked by James Mattis for Afghanistan. Why do you think the former prime minister repeats the accusations against you? What really bothers him about you?
Artur Meçollari: Mr. Berisha knows very well that I know something. I know very well, that is, that I know something. And that he, that is, I have been asked on two or three other televisions and they have told me Mr. Berisha called you a spy, why didn't you sue him? I told him he is non grata. That was my only, only answer. But in fact the story is a little more complicated. Because in fact, in 2000 and 2012 I was wiretapped. I was wiretapped by the Military Intelligence Service. With permission, the permission was approved, I don't know how they got it, it was approved by the former Attorney General Ina Rama, at that time. And in fact all the wiretaps were transcribed. I have spoken, let me say, in those wiretaps that the Military Intelligence Service conducted, I was caught talking to only three foreign people. All three of these military attaches in Albania of the three Anglo-Saxon countries. So there is no evidence, or in the transcript of the conversations, there is no evidence, or any conversation with a Russian, Greek, Chinese person, just three Anglo-Saxon countries. Those military attaches with whom I collaborated, as they still collaborate today.
But that's not the point. Because Mr. Berisha used this whole story, or my wiretapping, to wiretap the American military attaché. He wiretapped me because he couldn't wiretap those American military attachés directly, but they were aware that I was being wiretapped. And one day, and the story, because in fact there was a rift between Berisha's government and the government and the United States, there was a rift at least, it turns out to me after the purchase of the IMSI-Catcher wiretapping device. That's where the rift turns out to be. It seems that its purchase was unconstitutional with the United States of America and it was used by the military intelligence service. And it seems that this must have been and in fact, history showed that my wiretap was not an object, it wasn't me. But it was those United States military attachés, who one day after my release was declared non grata by the Berisha government. On October 5, 2012. Do you understand?
-This is interesting, I'm hearing it for the first time.
Artur Meçollari: Let me tell you, he was declared non grata. Not with an official document. And the story happened in the office of the Minister of Defense. Arben Imami, at 10:00 on October 5, he was called, Ambassador Arvizu was called. And they declared him non grata. But the Americans did not sell their attaché, as happened in 1996, when they took out or when they declared in some way non grata the advisor to the minister at that time, Zhulali, Danny Lane, who they removed, this time the Americans did not let him go. And they did not leave Albania. He stayed until after the fall of the Berisha government. They saw him as a military man. So the story of Berisha's wife's non grata is somewhat related to some slightly dubious relations he has with the embassy of the United States of America, after his mandate or during his second mandate as prime minister.
Berisha, qeni i Beogradit, plumbin e ka pak bastardi i Fazllicit