Albanian institutions accidentally leaked data about the operations of their State Intelligence Agency (SHISH). The online media portal Republika attributed this discovery to Vladimir Putin and gave him credits for revealing a fake list of “secret agents”.
On December 8, 2018, British The Independent published an article titled “Nato nation Albania publicly posting sensitive intelligence data online”. The Independent’s journalist revealed that the Albanian’s Ministry of Finance had mistakenly published information of the Albanian State Intelligence Agency (SHISH) on its website, where the ministry usually publishes salary data and expenses of civil servants. In an effort to increase transparency and prevent corruption, the Albanian Ministry of Finance and Economy has started releasing payment tables (and expenditures) for all state institutions, including SHISH. These tables also included the names of operatives operating in Belgium, Greece, Kosovo, Italy, Macedonia and Serbia.
The article states that many details referring to SHISH are publicly available in the tables on the Ministry of Finance’s website, which includes the identities of operatives, their roles, vehicles, travel information, locations of field offices, etc. Before publishing the article, the Independent contacted the relevant institutions in Albania and informed them of their findings, after which the confidential information was deleted from the tables. According to the article, the Independent did not reveal the names of the intelligence officers themselves for security reasons:
In order to prevent retribution against low-level informants or others who may be associated with the agency’s operatives, Independent will not reveal the names or any other identity-related details.
The news has, with delays and false information, appeared in the domestic media as well. Nezavisne novine published an article on December 24, 2018, titled “Albania mistakenly published a secret list of spies perpetrating the region and Serbia”.
A list of agents – Two of whom are in the NATO headquarters
Thanks to this splodge, now we know that two of their men hold a very sensitive position in NATO headquarters in Brussels. Others have top-ranking diplomatic positions in Belgium, Greece, Serbia and the Serbian southern province Kosovo, as well as in Italy and Macedonia.
Albania has betrayed the following spies:
1. Ferdinand Nuku
2. Kujtim Prifti
3. Robert Tuci
4. Nestor Babameto
5. Astrit Kinani
6. Nevzat Šehu
7. Tonin Prendi
8. Bardok Gega
9. Hazbi BrahjaNATO now has a serious problem because whoever enters the Albanian system enters the NATO system as well. The Alliance has issued the highest alert not only to withdraw agents urgently from the field but also because of fear that this spy network may have been discovered in other parts of the world.
The article that was published in Nezavisne novine earlier that day, was also published in Kurir, followed by Blic, Alo, Srbija Danas, and many other online media portals. However, the first time that this list appeared was in an article on an online media portal Republika on December 18, 2018, and it was subsequently shared to other media in Serbia as well:
EXCLUSIVE! Shock for NATO: Putin Published a List of Spies in Serbia (December 18, 2018, Republika)
NATO IN PANIC AND FEAR Russia published a list of spies in Serbia – now the chaos begins! There are all the names of Albanians who are wandering through our state! (December 19, 2018, Alo.rs)
Aside from the alleged list of agents which appeared in Nezavisne novine, Republika also published another list, claiming the list was “discovered by the Independent”
The Command Structure of SHISH in Albania (also discovered by the Independent)
1. Mevlut Matraku, Director
2. Refail Milo, Administration Director
3. Kerim Dede, Security Director
4. Agim Karaliju, Tirana
5. Ilir Tafa, Durres
6. Eltjon Nikola, Fier
7. V. E., Elbasan *
8. R. S., Saranda *
9. Astrit Alija, Debar
10.Ismail Saliju, Valona
11. Dževdet Zeko, Gjirokastra
The Independent, as noted previously, did not release any names, which was confirmed to us by Borzou Daragahi, the journalist who wrote the article.
All the names that have been published, both of the “secret agents in Serbia” and the Command Structure, were actually taken from an article published in the Albanian media on April 6, 2018.
Albanian media have reported about firing in SHISH, and published a list of the people who were fired by the State Intelligence Agency, as well as those appointed to their positions. Republika presented the list of the dismissed people as “the list of agents in Serbia” and the list of the newly appointed SHISH employees as “the command structure discovered by the Independent.
Thus, both “lists” were publicly available months before the Independent‘s article was published. and have nothing to do with “leaks” of information, nor does the first list represent a list of agents in Serbia. Republika actually took over the list of public servants that was published in the media and labelled them as secret agents.
In addition to the false statement about the names of secret agents, the “discovery” of the Albanian spy list has been attributed to Vladimir Putin in the headlines of these articles, and this is mentioned in the text of the articles:
Thanks to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, a list of Albanian secret service agents (SHISH) who have been wandering around Serbia under the pretence of diplomacy and business activities.
The prominent British newspaper, the Independent, owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, who is close to Vladimir Putin (see the box), has published a list of the main Albanian agents who have operated in several countries, including ours, where they have built a network of intelligence agents.
Although the article published by the Independent clearly states that the information came from official Albanian institutions, Republika’s journalists concluded that this information came from Putin because one of the Independent’s owners is Evgeny Lebedev, the son of Alexander Lebedev, whom they “creatively” linked with Vladimir Putin:
The connection between Lebedev and Putin
Alexander Lebedev is a Russian oligarch whose wealth is estimated to be worth over two billion dollars. He’s also the owner of the Independent, Evening standard and Novaya Gazeta. While he was working as a diplomat in London during the Soviet Union, he was actually a KGB agent, leaving the service in 1991. He clashed with Putin after writing about the love affair of the most powerful man in Russia with the gymnast, Alina Kabayevo.
Though he spends his time both in the UK and the US, Western media speculate that the conflict with Putin was staged. They believe that he is, in fact, Putin’s player the whole time, whose media publishes information that is useful to the Russian President.
The headlines also mention that NATIO is in shock, fear, and panic, while the article states that NATO has already started an extensive investigation related to this case. The original article in the Independent, however, only states that NATO declined to make any comments on the case, explaining that they do not comment on anything from the intelligence sphere.
The claim that the names featured in these articles represent the “list of agents in Serbia” and that the same list was published by the Independent, we rate as fake news, while all sharings of the list we rate as redistribution of fake news. The claim that the information published in the Independent was revealed by Vladimir Putin, or “Russia”, as well as claims about “chaos and panic in NATO”, we rate as disinformation and clickbait.
