The former director of Albania’s State Intelligence Service, P.Sh., and his son, A.Sh., were found guilty of a series of charges involving gambling, breaching state secrets, and possessing illegal firearms.
Sentenced at the Prosecution’s Request
The two have been sentenced at the request of Berat Prosecution for organizing lotteries or gambling “in breach of legal provisions”, manufacturing or illegally holding firearms and ammunition, and disclosing “state secrets by a person entrusted with the information”.
The investigation was initiated after police received reports claiming gambling was taking place at an address in the “30 Vjetori” neighborhood.
There, authorities discovered that the venue, operated by P.Sh., hosted several computers offering online games resembling those provided by Adex Casino.
Upon technical checkups, it was established that the respective electronic devices relied on installed applications or software to conduct online gambling.
The investigation also included a search at the residence of A.Sh., the father of P.Sh., where they came across a “bronze-colored metal magazine” with five unfired 7.62 mm cartridges, a black handbag with three loaded magazines, and two USB drives labeled “Turbox” and “Kingston.”
P.Sh., who served as Director of the Berat Intelligence Service, explained that he surrendered his firearms in November 2023, at the time when he officially stepped down from his position.
However, he unintentionally forgot to turn in the ammunition that was later found at his home.
The man argued that the 7.62 mm cartridges belonged to older firearms that he had found in the former building of the Intelligence Service, and which he decided to hold onto as souvenirs, but had mistakenly left at his residence.
The Prosecution, however, determined that the respective firearms had been returned. Additional verifications showed that two of the materials found on the USB drive labeled “Usb drive” were classified as “secrets” and kept by SHISH as single copies.
The act of copying or preproducing such materials is “strictly prohibited and contravenes the regulations governing SHISH operations”, representing a breach of the security of classified information.
Suspended Sentences
Berat Prosecution has requested that P.Sh. be declared guilty of the offense of “Organizing lotteries or gambling in breach of legal provisions” under Article 197/1 and sentenced to two years in prison.
Prosecutors also agreed to cut his sentence by one-third, pursuant to Article 406, paragraph 1, and to suspend the execution of the sentence and place the man on probation for two years and 8 months.
The other defendant was also found guilty of “Manufacture and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition” under Article 278/3, for which he received a six-month sentence, and of “Disclosure of state secrets by a person entrusted with the information” under Article 294/1, which resulted in a two-year sentence.
Similarly, his sentences were reduced and ultimately suspended. However, he is no longer allowed to assume any public functions for at least five years.