The Tirana Prosecution Office has initiated criminal proceedings regarding the murder of Appeals Judge Astrit Kalaja two days ago in the courtroom while he was giving a decision on a property matter.
The suspected perpetrator of the incident, Elvis Shkambi, one of the parties in the process being tried by the deceased, is being investigated for 3 criminal charges: "Murder of public officials", "Murder in other qualifying circumstances" and "Unlicensed possession and production of weapons, explosive weapons and ammunition".
The author's uncle, Gjon Shkambi, present in the courtroom, is suspected of being aware that his nephew had a weapon with him and of his plans to kill the Appeals Judge if he issued a decision to their detriment.
Meanwhile, the security guard of the Court of Appeal, Banush Koxhaj, is being investigated for "Abuse of duty" after failing to perform a physical search when Elvis entered the courtroom for the hearing, armed.
Prosecutor's Office Announcement:
The murder of Judge AK and the injury of two other citizens, the Tirana Prosecution Office is prosecuting 3 people for 'Murder of public officials', 'Murder in other qualifying circumstances', 'Unlicensed possession of weapons' and 'Abuse of office'
The Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Tirana, on 10.08.2025, registered criminal proceedings no. 7416, for the criminal offense "Murder of public officials", provided for by article 79/ai of the Criminal Code, against citizen E.Sh., "Murder in other qualifying circumstances", against the litigants, committed in collaboration, remaining in attempts provided for by article 79 letter "ç", 25-22 of the Criminal Code, against citizens RK and EK, charged with citizens E. Sh. and G.Sh, "Unauthorized possession and production of weapons, explosive weapons and ammunition", provided for by article, 278 of the Criminal Code, charged with citizen E.Sh and "Abuse of office", provided for by article 248 of the Criminal Code, charged with citizen BK
On 06.10.2025, at around 15:38, a report was received in the operational room of the Tirana Local Police Directorate that, in the internal premises of the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction of Tirana, Judge AK was shot with a firearm.
Immediately after receiving the notification, an investigative group was formed consisting of Judicial Police officers and criminal experts, under the direction of the Prosecutor's Office. After carrying out the first investigative actions, such as examining the scene of the incident, administering and preliminary examining the video footage, taking statements, etc., it resulted that: on 06.10.2025, at around 15:35, in the premises of the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction of Tirana, a court hearing was held, with the subject matter "Objection to enforcement actions", with plaintiffs RK, etc. Immediately after the announcement of the decision by Judge AK, citizen E.Sh. who was in the courtroom, took out a pistol from his belt and shot several times at the judge who, as a result of the shooting, fell to the ground. After this action, citizen E.Sh. pointed the pistol at citizens RK and EK, who attempted to leave the room, and fired a firearm (pistol) at them, resulting in citizen EK being injured in his right hand, and citizen RK in his body.
Immediately afterwards, the suspected perpetrator handed over the pistol to the court security officer and, after going out into the courtyard, was caught red-handed by the services of Police Station No. 1, Tirana.
The deceased was transported by ambulance to the Tirana Trauma Hospital, but died on the way, while the other two injured people, after receiving specialized medical assistance, are out of danger.
The firearm was seized as material evidence. From the administration and preliminary examination of the video footage stored on the Court's NVR server, it results that on 06.10.2025, at 13:42, in the premises of the court's public waiting room, citizens E.Sh. and Gj.Sh. entered and passed the scanner (detector) device, one after the other, and on the detector screen it is observed that the red lights (which signal the presence of metals) were on, while citizen BK, on duty as a security officer at the Tirana Court of Appeal, remained seated in a chair and did not perform any action for the physical control of these citizens or their registration in the protocol book, in which all persons entering and leaving the court premises must be recorded.
As above, from the preliminary investigative actions, a reasonable suspicion was created that the citizen E.Sh., has fully consumed the elements of the criminal offense "Murder of public officials", provided for by Article 79/ai of the Criminal Code, to the detriment of the victim AK, serving as a judge of the Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in Tirana, "Murder in other qualifying circumstances" against the parties committed in collaboration, remaining an attempt, provided for by Article 79 letter "ç", 25-22 of the Criminal Code, to the detriment of the victims RK and EK and "Unauthorized possession and production of weapons, explosive weapons and ammunition", provided for by Article 278 of the Criminal Code.
Citizen Gj.Sh., has reasonable suspicions based on evidence and indications that he has consumed the elements of the criminal offense "Murder in other qualifying circumstances" against the litigants, committed in collaboration, remaining in the attempt provided for by Article 79 letter "ç", 25-22 of the Criminal Code, to the detriment of the victims RK and EK. This citizen, referring to the preliminary examination of the film footage, although he apparently did not commit any concrete action, did not take any action to stop the criminal actions of his nephew E.Sh., and even remained calm during the commission of the offense and after its commission, which creates reasonable suspicion that he was aware of his nephew's plan and actions. There is also a reasonable suspicion that this citizen played the role of the instigator in the attempt to kill the litigants, a suspicion created not only by the aforementioned circumstances, but also by taking into account a series of actions committed by citizen Gj.Sh. during the period preceding the crime, such as public threats to kill the parties made on television shows, as well as a large number of events reported by the victims and reflected in the deepsee system (administered with a report), regarding the threats to their lives made by citizen Gj. Sh.
As for citizen BK, there is a well-founded suspicion that he has consumed the elements of the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code. The investigation showed that he remained seated in the chair and did not perform any action to physically check these citizens or register them in the protocol book, in which all persons entering and leaving the court premises must be recorded, resulting in citizen E. Sh. entering the courtroom with a weapon and subsequently committing the murder by the latter.
All three of these citizens were arrested in flagrante delicto as persons suspected of committing the aforementioned criminal offenses and a request was filed with the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Tirana for the validation of the arrest and the assignment of the personal security measure "arrest in prison".
