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An Albanian court has ordered the director of the State Intelligence Service (SHISH), Vlora Hyseni, to be put under house arrest and suspended from public duty as part of a sweeping investigation into public tender fraud, the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK) announced Tuesday. The development prompted Prime Minister Edi Rama to announce her immediate removal from office.
The Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO) approved the security measures at the request of SPAK. Prosecutors are investigating Hyseni for allegedly assisting a perpetrator of a criminal offense and disclosing state secrets.
However, the house arrest order could not be immediately executed because Hyseni was in Baku, Azerbaijan, attending an international conference of intelligence service heads when officers searched her apartment.
Speaking from New York, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Hyseni’s dismissal is immediate and that he will consult President Bajram Begaj to appoint a successor, emphasizing that the court must determine her guilt or innocence independently.
Opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha accused Hyseni of leaking intelligence to criminal figures and pointed to her 2021 removal from the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA)—political claims unverified by prosecutors.
Hyseni led SHISH from April 2023 after serving as KIA's deputy director and later as Rama’s national security adviser. In 2025, she chaired NATO’s Civilian Intelligence Committee.
Authorities reiterated that all individuals under investigation are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
