The Special Court has returned the criminal case of a Russian citizen accused of sending a bomb threat to Rinas Airport to the jurisdiction of SPAK (Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime).
According to the Special Court, the Tirana Prosecution Office overstepped its authority by investigating Vladislav Urban. The court ruled that the charge—“threat of committing terrorist acts”—falls exclusively under SPAK’s competence.
The threatening message, sent in February 2023 from Greece, was addressed to two email accounts belonging to the Operational Manager’s office at Rinas Airport.
The court decision obtained by A2 CNN reveals the contents of the message, in which the Russian not only threatened to detonate a bomb if the Albanian government did not recognize Kosovo as part of Serbia but also claimed to be holding two Albanian citizens hostage.
“Hello. My name is Vladislav Urban. If you are reading this message, then there is a bomb in your house. You must ask your government to recognize Kosovo as Serbian so that bombs do not explode. And to prove I am serious, I have taken two Albanian citizens and am holding them in my house in Nei Epivates, Greece. If you don’t comply, they will be in big trouble. You have 48 hours to save many Albanian lives,” the message stated.
It ended with: “ZV Kosovo je Srbija” (“Kosovo is Serbia”).
The investigation, initiated by the Tirana Prosecution after a referral from the anti-terror unit, traced the sender through email metadata and identified the author as Vladislav Urban, born in Moscow and living in Thessaloniki, Greece.
With the help of Greek authorities, it was confirmed that Urban lived alone at the address mentioned in the email. He suffers from mental health issues and is under psychiatric treatment.
Searches of his apartment revealed no evidence of hostages. However, authorities discovered that Urban had a history of similar threats. In January 2023, he had sent threatening emails to Athens Airport and a Greek hospital, stating: “I am a Taliban, and in the name of Allah, I will kill Greeks.”
Checks through the TIMS system (Travel Information Management System) confirmed that Urban has never entered Albanian territory. A detention order (“arrest in prison”) in absentia has been issued against him.
During a preliminary hearing, Judge Rudina Palloi ruled that the criminal proceedings conducted by the Tirana Prosecution were invalid due to lack of jurisdiction and transferred the case to SPAK for further investigation.
