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Neighboring Albania is in crisis, with hundreds of protesters taking to the streets and clashing with the police, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama and Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj.
Defying the government’s ban on public gatherings of more than 10 people due to the pandemic, protesters protest the fatal injury of a 25-year-old man by a police officer.
The protesters threw stones at the police, the Ministry of the Interior, Tirana City Hall and other government buildings. They also tried to enter the Ministry building and the government complex that includes the prime minister’s office, with the police firing tear gas to disperse them.
Shouting “Renuncia Rama”, the protesters, most of them without masks, set fire to a Christmas tree in front of the main government building and then destroyed it, dismantling the decorative ornaments in the central square of Skanderbeg.
A police spokesman told the Associated Press that nine police officers were injured during the clashes and that cars parked in the area were destroyed. According to local media reports, a protester and a journalist were also injured.
The tragic event
Klodian Rasha, 25, was shot by police near his home early Tuesday morning, at a time when curfews exist due to anti-coronavirus measures. According to authorities, the 25-year-old did not respond to police orders to stop. The perpetrator-police stated that he believed that the 25-year-old was carrying a weapon.
The 25-year-old’s sister, Sibora, told a local television channel (Report TV) that her brother went out to buy cigarettes and that he did not carry a gun and that he was shot near the entrance of his house by police who followed him.
The interior minister said police were investigating what exactly happened. He also expressed his belief that “the competent legal institutions will complete the investigation quickly, accurately and immediately” into the death of the 25-year-old. Albanian state police described the incident as “tragic” and said they were “analyzing intensively” what exactly happened. He also expressed his deepest condolences to family members, friends, relatives and citizens “affected by this act.”
Shots by President Meta against the police
For his part, Albanian President Ilir Meta said the incident “shocked” everyone in the country, but blamed officials for the increase in police violence.
As he pointed out, in the last two years acts of extreme and inappropriate violence by the police have intensified, highlighting that “this is the direct responsibility of the senior officials and leaders of the State Police, as well as the Minister of the Interior. , who as of yet have no clear public zero tolerance positions for such actions. “
