While introducing Igli Tafa as the new head of AKSHI, Prime Minister Edi Rama defended in his speech the former director Mirlinda Karçanaj, accused of being an accomplice of a criminal group that abused the institution's tenders, and accused the prosecution of putting the agency's employees under pressure by "mistreating and abusing them."
Prime Minister Edi Rama introduced Igli Tafa on Tuesday as the new head of the National Agency for the Information Society, AKSHI, but used his speech for more than 20 minutes in the presentation to attack the prosecution and defend the former director under investigation for collaboration with a criminal organization.
In sentences that seemed to contradict each other, Rama said he "did not go into the merits of the case", but defended Karçanaj, saying that she had "one of the most excellent careers in public service" and that she was being linked to "things that have nothing to do with Linda".
Also, while claiming to support what he called a revolution in the justice system, Rama insisted that this system was not respecting the presumption of innocence and accused the prosecution of having "mistreated, abused and subjected to unjustifiable coercive methods in a democratic republic" employees of the AKSH.
"It's not a computer that turns off, but a human life that is placed in a position that is not at all admirable and not at all enviable when it is innocent," Rama said, among other things.
The Special Prosecution Office accuses the former long-time director of AKSHI, Mirlinda Karçanaj, and her deputy, Hava Delibashi, of being part of a structured criminal group that aimed to embezzle the agency's tenders. Meanwhile, Ergys Agasi and Ermal Beqiri, who are accused of leading the group and being involved in hostage-taking and other corrupt affairs, have been declared wanted.
Both former leaders have been under "house arrest" security measures since December 16 of last year, but the prime minister, under whom AKSHI operates, did not intervene until a few days ago when he decided to appoint Igli Tafa to this position.
Tafa, who was briefly introduced by Rama to the AKSHI employees as “someone you know,” was until recently the head of the National Authority for Cyber Security, AKSK. In his speech, he promised support and energy in continuing the work on what he called “the prime minister’s vision” for the modernization and digitalization of all services.
The National Agency for the Information Society, AKSHI, is one of the most sensitive institutions in the country, as it manages almost the entire digital governance system through e-Albania, including the Artificial Intelligence Ministry, while acting as an intermediary between citizens and various institutions in issuing hundreds of documents.
The agency has been criticized for its management style and secret tenders, justified on the grounds of national security, but the scheme investigated by SPAK reveals that the agency and the critical information it processes were made available to a criminal group, which used, among other things, the hostage-taking of rivals to secure tenders and public money. While SPAK's investigations reveal a scheme to abuse public money, they also raise questions about the violation of national security. /BIRN/
