Claims that secretly recorded intimate videos involving well-known Albanian personalities were circulating online, but authorities have not publicly confirmed either the number of people involved or allegations over who recorded the material. Police are now tracing those who published and distributed the footage.
TIRANA, Sept 30 (BalkanView) — Albanian police have opened an investigation into the online publication and mass distribution of intimate videos purportedly involving public figures, as unverified claims about the origin of the recordings spread rapidly across social media and local news outlets.
Tirana police said cybercrime investigators were working to identify IP addresses and other data linked to websites and social media profiles that published or redistributed the material.
Authorities are also taking steps to have the videos removed from online platforms.
Police said the case had been referred to prosecutors under four possible criminal offences relating to unlawful interception of computer data, interference with computer data, unlawful intrusion into private life and misuse of devices.
The investigation marks a significant development after the recordings began circulating widely online and triggered intense speculation over the identities of the people appearing in them and how the material was obtained.
Claims of secret recordings remain unverified
Several Albanian-language media outlets reported allegations that composer Adrian Hila appears in some of the material.
Other reports went further, citing claims that as many as 17 public figures could be connected to the videos and that some recordings may have been made without the knowledge or consent of people appearing in them.
Those claims have not been established by investigators.
Police have not publicly identified Hila as responsible for secretly recording the material, nor have they confirmed the reported figure of 17 people.
The distinction is significant because much of the information circulating online originated in social media posts and entertainment-media commentary rather than findings released by investigators.
Reports that the recordings were made with hidden cameras or without consent should therefore be treated as allegations unless established by the investigation.
Police turn attention to those spreading the videos
The authorities’ public statement focused primarily on how the footage reached the internet and who subsequently distributed it.
Cybercrime investigators are attempting to identify the digital sources of publication and redistribution, while procedures are under way to remove the material from the platforms on which it appeared.
The case has consequently shifted from a celebrity scandal towards questions of privacy, cybercrime and potential criminal responsibility for obtaining or disseminating intimate material.
Earlier reports said police had initially been carrying out preliminary checks. By Wednesday evening, however, authorities said an ex officio investigation had been launched and procedural material referred to prosecutors.
The rapid circulation of the footage also prompted public figures in Albania to call on users not to redistribute it, arguing that people appearing in intimate recordings should be treated as potential victims of privacy violations rather than as entertainment.
The central question for investigators is now not the identities being speculated about on social media, but how the recordings were obtained, whether they were made or acquired unlawfully, who first uploaded them and who was responsible for their subsequent dissemination.
Until those questions are answered, claims about secret cameras, the number of people involved and individual responsibility remain allegations.