"I didn't get out of prison alive", Ahmetaj reveals the threats to his life: Here's how the persecution by Rama began

Arben Ahmetaj has described the investigation against him and his wanted list as "political persecution" that is being carried out by the justice system, according to him, orchestrated by Edi Rama.

In an interview with Vincent WJ van Gerven, the former Deputy Prime Minister explained in detail how this persecution began, the circumstances that led him to clash with Prime Minister Rama, and the threats to his life.

Ahmetaj says it all started in 2022, when Rama dismissed him from the post of deputy prime minister. He says with conviction that even if he were to be imprisoned, he would not leave the cell alive.

Asked what would bring him back to Albania, the former deputy prime minister said he would only return when Rama loses control over the judiciary.

Excerpt from the interview:

I'd like to come back to this naivety a little later, but what can you tell me about the threats to your life?

I received threats personally. First, a direct phone call from prison, very clear: "We will kill you. We will see on the cameras when you park the car, when you pick up the child", etc. They had access to the cameras of the building in Tirana where I had rented an apartment.

The second threat was another call from a British number I didn’t recognize. And the third was a person on a motorbike. It was like a mafia movie. I was walking down the street and this person comes up to me: “Hello, Arben.” I say: “Hello, how are you?” And he says: “So, are you walking?” “Well, I’ve been walking my whole life.” And then he says: “Yes, but that’s where you’ll die.”

Then there was an incident at Tirana Lake Park, where they tried to take a picture of my newborn baby. My now-wife had hired a Filipino nanny, and at one point she was crying. It turned out she had been threatened to take pictures and videos of me and what was going on in my house and hand them over to people at a company called Emerald Spa. That's when I was really scared.

When did this all start?

Right after I was dismissed by the Prime Minister. It was September or October 2022 when the persecution began. Then I left my family. I never returned to Albania because I feared for my life. I feared for the life of my family.

If I ended up in prison, I'm sure I wouldn't get out of there alive. Knowing that I'm a bit emotional, they would have created some incident in prison and said: "Well, just so you know, because he got into a fight, that's why he got killed."

As a result, you are currently living in exile. Under what conditions would you consider returning?

I think about this every day. When I realize that the Prime Minister has lost his grip on justice, then I would go back—even to prison, if you will.

What would be a sign that he is losing control of the system?

We'll see. I have a lot of faith in the United States. There have been many soft landings, but there have also been many ground crashes in the history of political systems.