Sigurimi
| Drejtoria e Sigurimit të Shtetit | |
Sigurimi
|
|
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 20 March 1943 |
| Dissolved | 12 July 1991 |
| Superseding agency | |
| Headquarters | Tirana, Socialist Albania |
| Minister responsible |
|
| Parent agency | Socialist Albanian Government |
The Drejtoria e Sigurimit të Shtetit (Directorate of State Security), commonly called the Sigurimi, was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania.De jure its goal was protecting Albania from dangers, but de facto the Sigurimi served to suppress political activity in the population and hold the existing political system in place.
In 2008 the Albanian parliament discussed opening the so-called “Sigurimi files”, but the Socialist Party of Albania contested it. A government commission, created in 2015, has been assigned the task of publicizing the Sigurimi files and identifying candidates for public office who had collaborated with the Communist regime; however, as of early 2017, the commission has not yet started its work, and critics have pointed out that most of the files were probably destroyed long ago.
The Sigurimi was established on 20 March 1943. Enver Hoxha typically credited the Sigurimi as having been instrumental in his faction's gaining power in Albania over other partisan groups. The People's Defense Division, formed in 1945 from Haxhi Lleshi's most reliable resistance fighters, was the precursor to the Sigurimi's 5,000-strong uniformed internal security force. In 1989 the division was organized into five regiments of mechanized infantry that could be ordered to quell any domestic disturbances posing a threat to the Party of Labour of Albania leadership. The Sigurimi had an estimated 30,000 officers, approximately 7,500 of them assigned to the People's Army.
...
Wikipedia