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| Ylli Rakipi in the studion of the show Të Paekspozuarit |
In Albania, the journalist of the "Të Paekspozuarit" (The Unexposed Persons) show Ylli Rakipi has received life threatening messages after the publication of the counterfeit documents that were used by the company that won the race for a part of the works at the Tirana New Ring. "The threats towards the journalist are of various forms. Firstly are done indirectly, via email and then directly. Regarding these threats the journalist addressed to the competent authorities", writes on TPZ.al portal led by Mr. Rakipi.
There were reactions today about this event by President Ilir Meta and the opposition, who strongly condemned the threats. President Meta personally met Mr. Rakipi calling on "law enforcement institutions to investigate this case with the utmost responsibility in order to punish the perpetrators." For the Democratic Party, "the threat to Ylli Rakipi is not simply a threat to a journalist, but it is a threat to our entire society. When the crime dares to threaten a media man, at a time when the perpetrators of the scandal are all identified, this means only one thing: crime feels stronger than the state and justice," the Democratic Party statement said.The Të Paekspozuarit show on News 24 TV revealed that US company Dunwell Haberman that who won the race through its branch in Albania - DH Albania - but had falsified the documents submitted to the tender, which was subsequently canceled. During a second show, Mr. Rakipi voiced that the businessman Bashkim Ulaj was hiding behind the phantom company.
Earlier the Voice of America in Albanianraised serious doubts about the ties between Mr. Ulaj and DH Albania, which had the offices locate in ABA Center, a building built by Mr. Ulaj and where his company's headquarters are located. The representative of DH Albania also has family ties with Mr. Ulaj, while employees of his company "Gener 2"are involved in completing DH Albania documents. One such fact was testified by an article published by BIRN, which revealed that a procedure on behalf of DH Albania was committed and paid by Gener 2 and the lawyer of this company.
Although established in July of this year, DH Albania became the winner of two major tenders, one for the construction of a part of the new Ring Road worth of 18m euros without VAT, and another for the construction of a power electric line Burrel-Peshkoi, worth of 12m euros.
Official authorities were justified in the fact that the company had formally had regular documents and that they did not had any data to make them suspect to initiate verifications against it, despite the fact that the representative of DH Albania was only an unknown 26-year-old man, Avdjol Dobi, without any prior experience in any of the areas where his company won the races.
The prosecution has initiated investigations, but so far appears that it was enough to seize the documents, while addressing to the US authorities to prove the forgeries.