Rilind Gërvalla, the Director of Kosovo Television (RTK), has implicated the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI) in one of the biggest scandals to date. Paparaci has obtained an audio recording of an RTK Board meeting in which Gërvalla can be heard speaking. He also claims that the article in question was provided to him by AKI. He further states that the official who delivered it was attending a seminar in Bosnia, where, according to him, there was significant discussion about the false article from a Bosnian portal targeting two Kosovo-based media outlets. This audio recording starkly reveals how AKI and a government-controlled television network are involved in a dangerous mechanism against media outlets they perceive as adversaries.
Eros Klaiqi
Rilind Gërvalla has implicated the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (AKI) in the “Slobodna Bosna” scandal.
The RTK director, linked to the ruling party Vetëvendosje Movement, admitted that the false news article from the pseudo-Bosnian outlet Slobodna Bosna, which targeted two media outlets in Kosovo, came directly as information from AKI.
On July 22, RTK cited an article from Slobodna Bosna that claimed the Periskopi portal was “under the direct control of terrorist Milan Radoičić” and that a “multi-million-dollar transaction had recently been made to Nacionale.”
According to Rilind Gërvalla, AKI operates a section involved in national security and false news dissemination, a strategy that Prime Minister Albin Kurti has framed as a “hybrid war.”
This section of AKI, Gërvalla emphasizes, “has regularly collaborated with RTK,” which is under the control of Kurti’s government.
These admissions were made by Rilind Gërvalla, closely linked to the Vetëvendosje Movement, during his reporting at an extraordinary RTK Board meeting on July 23.
Paparaci obtained the full audio recording of the meeting, in which Gërvalla stated that the news piece was translated and published by RTK after consultation with an AKI official.
This AKI agent was reportedly in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time, Gërvalla recalls.
Gërvalla quotes the AKI official responsible for the “media section” as saying, “The article is being widely discussed here [in Bosnia and Herzegovina, ed.].”