“The life of a person is protected by law,” Albanian Constitution, Article 21. 

On the night of December 8 in Albania’s capital, Tirana, a police officer shot dead a 25-year-old boy, later identified as Klodian Rasha, near his home past curfew hours. 

According to the police report, that is based on the testimony of the officer involved, during the patrol on Dritan Hoxha street, a patrol saw a person who “was committing suspicious actions.” The person, apparently, did not react to the police order to stop, but he started running away “pointing a hard object that appeared to be a firearm at the police officer.”

“Found in these conditions and in the absence of full lighting, the police officer shot with a firearm and as a result, citizen KR, 25 years old, was injured and lost his life in the hospital,” the official report concludes.

The official version of events is that a gun was found near the place of incident. However, citizens of Albania are still waiting for the Prosecution to confirm this claim, and to state whether the gun belonged to the victim or not.

At the moment, the investigation is ongoing, and the police officer who addmited he shot was arrested for “murder committed in excess of the limits of necessary protection.” 

Nevertheless, the killing triggered public outrage and thousands of citizens took to the streets, and have since been marching to demand justice and the resignation of the Interior Minister. 

The list of their demands is expanding, demanding resignations and serious changes. The protests started in the capital Tirana, but have quickly spread to many other towns and cities including Lezhë, Shkodra, Lushnja, Berat, Bulqiza, Vlorë, Fier and Durrës. 

Questions to be answered 

The public is reminding the authorities that Albania ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, and that its standards require a strict proportionality test to be applied in cases when the state uses deadly force against its citizens. According to these standards, the right to life must be protected, and states are obliged to refrain from deadly force — unless absolutely necessary. 

Many questions are now being asked by the public, including how deadly force could be absolutely necessary if the police officer was unable to tell if the victim was armed and could therefore not be certain whether he posed a threat, and if there were proportional means through which the officer could have fulfilled his duty and avoided the loss of life. 

It is of utmost importance that these questions, and many others surrounding this case, are answered through an objective and transparent investigation procedure and a fair trial, in order for justice to be delivered. And that is what Albanians on the streets are demanding. 

The first demand, resignation of the Minister of Interior, was fulfilled on December 10. Now, protestors are demanding reforms to the State Police, including the resignation of its head, and a halt to police violence. There have also been chants calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama. 

Protesters have flagged that on the first day of the protest police were unusually not wearing helmets and had no shields as is the standard practice during protests. They accused the government of using the police as “cannon fodder,” intentionally exposing them to violence, to be later used as propaganda, in order to divert public attention from the murder of Klodian Rasha to the injured police. 

The Albanian Police have been criticized in the past for not wearing personal identification numbers during protests. Such a practice is in violation of the law, and makes it difficult to identify officers and hold them accountable. 

The revolt escalated into violence on December 9, resulting in injured police officers and protesters, destroyed objects and the use of tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray against protesters. Media footage shows excessive police force during arrests, even against minors, and protesters being violently dragged into the Interior Ministry by people in civilian clothing. 

Due to the level of outrage, comparisons have been drawn to the 2008 protests in Greece following the police killing of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, and the 2020 U.S. protests following the police killing of George Floyd. 

Violence and threats 

Hundreds of protesters have been detained since the beginning of the protests, many of whom were minors and were taken into custody through what the Ombudsperson described as “problematic” procedures. According to the same source, between December 11 and 13, 233 people were detained. Detention centers in Tirana are overcrowded therefore detainees are being transferred to other cities. Lawyers have reported that detainees have been maltreated in police stations, kept in overcrowded cells, made to sleep on the ground and forced to waive their right to a lawyer. 

Parents have reported they have not been informed about their children being detained and have faced difficulties to even identify the police station where they are kept. 

These are grave violations of the right to a due process, the rights of juveniles in contact/conflict with law, and freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. Despite the alarming situation, it has been uplifting to see lawyers offering their services for free to defend protesters.

But it’s not only protesters who have been targeted. 

Two journalists in Tirana, as well as a media worker in Durrës, were detained while reporting on the protest and recording police violence against minors. The violent arrests of journalists has been described as “Lukashenko style” by the president, and condemned by the Safe Journalists Network and associations of Albanian journalists. 

Such attacks on media freedom and arrests of journalists are not isolated cases in Albania’s recent history. In the past years, the media freedom situation in Albania has deteriorated and the government has played an active role in that. 

Even more, during the COVID-19 emergency, Albania has set negative precedents of violations of freedom of assembly. To date, protests remain banned, while according to the General Directorate of Police, over 300 people were criminally prosecuted between March and July alone. Additionally, several peaceful protests have been forcefully dispersed by the police, including the protest against the demolition of the National Theater and a protest against hydropower construction. 

These measures have been applied selectively to anti-government protests, while other types of gatherings — such as political events or concerts — have taken place undisturbed. 

Threats and fear 

While police killing may be an isolated case, police violence is not. 

Activists claim that the police in Albania have a history of abuse of the poor, minorities such as Roma and Egyptians, and street vendors, and there is a longstanding belief that it serves politicians and the rich. There have been reports of people fearing the police more than the virus, of a Roma man being beaten by Tirana municipal police when collecting waste, and of a minor being beaten by the police for breaking curfew. 

Before the pandemic, police violence was also used during protests, and activists were arrested and targeted. Some examples are protests of Organizata Politike, and those by environmental activists, who have faced violence, threats and arrests for participating in protests and engaging in activism. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Albanian government has appeared to invest in making the police be perceived as an instrument of fear. Prime Minister Edi Rama posted a video supposedly showing Spanish police beating and chasing people down the streets, accompanied by an outrageously inappropriate message “either respect social distancing… or you will also be running.” 

Many people in Albania read this as a threat. 

Additionally, during the lockdown, the army patrolled the streets to look for “disobedient” citizens while a narrative of “war” prevailed. Penalties of up to 8 years in prison were introduced in April in the Criminal Code for those who break COVID-19 measures, as well as disproportional fines of up to 40,000 euros for protest organizers through a normative act on March 15, 2020. 

All these facts should not be seen as disconnected from the ongoing protest. 

The protest is an explosion of discontent of repressed citizens of a country with high levels of corruption and without functional courts, shifting from a state with an already weak rule of law to a police state. It is a protest led by youth who see no future in their country due to unemployment, leaving Albania fourth in worldwide rankings in terms of people’s desire to migrate — up there with countries currently at war. 

Lastly, the way pro-government media have reported on the protests has been concerning. They have used dramatic headlines about the burning of the Christmas tree in the city center by protestors, while giving more space to stories portraying the police as victims of protestors, leaving aside information about protesters, journalists and minors who have been injured and detained. 

More importantly, some headlines have flagged that the shooting victim had a criminal past — intentionally giving irrelevant, unverified and misleading information. Instead of contributing to the public debate on the matter of assuring accountability, some media have chosen to invest in creating dirt on the victim and demonizing the protesters and the protest, diminishing the reason that triggered it: The devaluation of the life of a young man. 

This way of reporting on such a sensitive case is deeply unethical. But even this is not new in Albania. 

However, even though the government controls most TV stations and some online portals, there are still media that are accurately reporting on the protest: as the rage of mostly young (men) deeply frustrated with what current Albania and its politicians have to offer. 

While violence is unacceptable and should not be incited, respecting the legitimate reason behind the start of the protest, its demands, and the victim’s family is the bare minimum. 

The protests started because a 25-year-old was killed by a police officer and people will grieve and protest until they see justice and change. In a country where dictatorship has instilled a fear of public reaction, this protest is a sign of growth in a society that is learning to express its rage, anger and discontent. 

And for politicians — it is a time to listen.

Feature photo: K2.0