Albania court suspends spy chief, orders house arrest in graft probe

TIRANA, Sept 22 (Reuters) – An Albanian court has suspended the country’s spy chief and has ordered her placed under house arrest on suspicion of disclosing classified information, as ​part of a wider corruption investigation, a special prosecution ‌office said on Tuesday.

Vlora Hyseni, who is originally from Kosovo, has served as head of the Sherbimi Informativ i Shtetit (SHISH) intelligence service since 2023. Previously, she served as deputy intelligence chief in Kosovo.

Prosecutors said Hyseni was suspected of disclosing ‌classified ​information to unauthorised persons in connection ⁠with a corruption case at ⁠the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI), which manages Albania’s digital public services and IT infrastructure. The special prosecution office, known as SPAK, has long been pursuing the case.

Hyseni could not ​be reached for comment.

Many state officials and business people have been arrested or are being investigated for misusing public money ⁠at AKSHI.

SPAK, which targets corruption and ⁠organized crime, said the measures against Hyseni were approved ​by an anti-corruption court to allow further investigation.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, ​who is in New York for the United Nations ‌General Assembly, said he had already relieved Hyseni of her duties and, in consultation with the president, would appoint a new head of the intelligence agency.

“Everyone is innocent until a final court ⁠ruling is issued, but no one is above the law,” Rama wrote on X.

The move is another setback for Rama’s government. In February, ⁠Rama dismissed his Deputy ‌Prime Minister Belinda Balluku after corruption charges ⁠were brought against her. Parliament later declined to ​lift ‌her immunity to allow her arrest. Balluku denied ​the allegations.

European ⁠Union officials have told Reuters they are looking closely at Rama’s handling of corruption cases and that Albania’s fight against crime and corruption was critical to the Balkan country’s bid to join the bloc by 2030.

(Reporting by Florion Goga, writing by Fatos Bytyci; Editing ​by Xevi Fontdegloria)