Opposition supporters demonstrating in Tirana about the jailing of an MP threw incendiary devices at the prime minister’s office and the ruling Socialist Party headquarters and clashed with police outside parliament.
Fjori Sinoruka
Protesters in central Tirana on Monday evening. Photo: Nensi Bogdani/BIRN.
Violence erupted in the Albanian capital Tirana on Monday evening as anti-government protesters targeted the prime minister’s office, the governing Socialist Party headquarters, the Interior Ministry and the Tirana municipality building with Molotov cocktails.
There were also clashes with police outside parliament, where officers used tear gas against the protesters in an attempt to quell the unrest.
Carrying banners with slogans like “Make Albania Free Again”, supporters of the opposition Democratic Party and Freedom Party marched through the city, expressing their anger at Prime Minister Edi Rama’s rule.
Photo: Nensi Bogdani/BIRN.
Over 1,000 police were deployed in central Tirana in an attempt to maintain order, according to media reports. Police said ten officers were injured in the clashes, but did not immediately announce how many protesters had been injured.
The opposition supporters were expressing their fury after Democratic Party MP Ervin Salianji was given a 12-month prison sentence for making false accusations. Salianji claims he is the victim of a political vendetta.
The opposition, which accuses Rama of increasing authoritarianism, is demanding the installation of a technocratic caretaker government ahead of parliamentary elections in June 2025.
Photo: Nensi Bogdani/BIRN.
Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha, who is under house arrest and facing charges of corruption, hailed Monday’s protest: “The battle of civil disobedience against narco-dictatorship goes on,” Berisha wrote on Instagram. He accuses Rama’s government of consorting with criminals, which Rama denies.
Photo: Nensi Bogdani/BIRN.
The unrest in Tirana follows another violent incident last week when opposition MPs broke and burned chairs in the parliamentary chamber in protest at the jailing of Salianji and allegedly threw debris at the speaker of parliament and cabinet ministers.
Police said they had referred a case against 25 MPs to the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime.
Copyright BIRN 2007