Radio fanatic has equipment seized by Albanian police, claiming he's a spy
| Author | Mark McGivern |
| Published date | 11 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
The Albanian Police's Cybernetics unit, aided by the Albanian Secret Service, is now liaising with prosecutors to establish that Colin is nothing more than an innocent radio enthusiast.
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They are trying to establish whether Colin is, in fact, part of an espionage team during a five day stay in the country last month.
Colin, 46, said: "I'm not exactly James Bond to be honest. I couldn't even wire up one of those video doorbells, so I can assure you I wasn't spying.
"I'm not entirely sure what spying might even entail to be honest and I wouldn't know where to start.
"It all came as a bit of a surprise but I believe the Albanian authorities lack of experience or knowledge of amateur radio is what sparked this.
"They simply hadn't seen equipment like ours and they wanted to make sure everything was above board."
Colin was travelling with fellow radio ham Paul Tittensor, from Chelmsford in Essex.
Colin and Paul, 61, took a field trip to Albanian capital Tirana to set up a new radio station to broadcast their signal to other enthusiasts worldwide.
They hired a villa and set up a wire antennas to broadcast information, using their established call signs.
Colin said: "We had a very successful few days and everything went to plan.
"On the way home the Albanian customs guy had a look at our equipment and he got quite interested, so we explained what it was.
"The next thing we knew, the police wanted to ask us more questions, so we were taken aside and asked to explain what everything did.
"I think there was a concern that our stuff could interfere with signals being put out by the Albanian police or government but we operate on different frequencies so there was never really any chance of any kind of problem.
"In the end they took away our gear and they still have it, three weeks later.
"I know they have been in contact with the procurator fiscal in Scotland and I hope that helps to clear things up and gets our equipment back to us."
"The next thing we knew, the police wanted to ask us more questions, so we were taken aside and asked to explain what everything did.
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