Denada Jushi
As the end of the year approaches, SPAK continues to crack down on corruption, this time with a house arrest measure for Mirlinda Karçanaj, Director of the National Agency for the Information Society, known as AKSHI. This institution has been in the spotlight for months for allegations of tender scandals.
Ms. Karçanaj appeared before the Special Prosecutor's Office on December 3rd as part of an investigation into tender abuses conducted by the institution she heads. She was placed under house arrest today.
Another measure, prison arrest, has also been ordered for Ergys Agasi, a name known as a person close to Prime Minister Rama, the son of a former SP MP. He is suspected, according to SPAK, of having used violence against another person with the aim of withdrawing the latter from the race, so the charges against him are serious.
"Illegal competition through violence", "Illegal deprivation of liberty", "Violation of equality of participants in tenders or public auctions" committed in the special form of cooperation, that of a structured criminal group and "Structured criminal group", "Commitment of criminal offenses by a criminal organization and a structured criminal group", as well as "Laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity", are the charges brought by SPAK.
But so far this measure has not been executed, because Agasi has not yet been found!
We recall that Agas's name became known to the public a year ago, when former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj described Agas as one of Prime Minister Rama's intermediaries with the mafia and drug traffickers.
A security measure of "prison arrest" has also been imposed on businessman Ermal Beqiri. The latter is suspected of corruption in AKSHI tenders and collaboration with Ergys Agas.
SPAK has officially communicated that eight citizens are under investigation for criminal offenses.
This operation, which began today, has also been followed within the police ranks. So far, the suspension from duty has been imposed on the Deputy Director of Tirana Police, Erjon Ismaili.
For many years, it has been impossible for the public to have full access to financial data or contracts concluded by the AKSH due to their confidentiality. According to data from Open Data Albania, contracts with classified status often involve the purchase of Services or equipment that, for security reasons, are carried out without public notice and without competition, limiting transparency and competition, while the only possible tracking remains through Treasury transactions.
According to this data, the National Information Society Agency (AKSHI) alone has carried out 1,122 such transactions in the period 2019–December 12, 2024, with a total value of 6.64 billion lek, with the year 2022 marking the highest level of payments with around 1.74 billion lek.
AKSHI was one of the last institutions left without being subject to measures by SPAK, now being included in a long list of institutions and senior state officials facing corruption charges!/acqj.al
