Former president Ilir Meta, was revealed to be the politician behind the initials I.M. that was recently accused of being part of the former State Security Agency files – an intelligence agency that was active during Enver Hoxha’s regime.

The State Files Authority mentioned Meta’s name and last name in a document that was forwarded to the Albanian Parliament, asking to amend the existing law which allegedly protects high-level politicians from being subject to background checks and further verification.

Being an old politician – Ilir Meta – according to the Files Authority, possesses what is known as a ‘clean certificate’, but if he was to be verified again, the result would be different.

The former president has reacted by calling this a politically motivated game.

But what prompted the National Files Authority to delve into Ilir Meta’s past?  

Euronews Albania learned that everything started on July 25, when an email from an unknown source was allegedly sent to the personal address of the institution’s director.

In the email, he claims that Ilir Meta’s name appears in the said files of the former-State Security files. After stating clear indications as to where they needed to look for to find this file, the unidentified person behind the email also claimed that several additional files had disappeared under unknown circumstances.

After conducting the necessary inspection, the Files Authority was able to find that Meta’s name was in fact found in a file that detailed an incident, where Meta had voluntarily spied on a friend who had tried to illegally cross the border and escape the then closed-off communist Albania.

This isn’t the first time that the National Files Authority has asked Parliament to amend the law that would allow for the re-verification of high-level politicians and justice officials.