Albanian Student Protests Enter Fifth Day: Police Accused of Firing Rubber Bullets; 500 Detained, 120 Officers and 45 Protesters Injured
Tirana — Thousands of young Albanians gathered outside the Education Ministry in the centre of the capital Tirana on Saturday, October 17, on the fifth day of a growing student-led movement to force Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign, Reuters reported. Demonstrations over corruption and a lack of jobs have begun spreading throughout Albania. In Tirana this week, protesters have smashed windows, set government buildings alight and clashed with police.
The protest turned violent when a group of young people wearing masks hurled rocks at riot police, who responded with stun grenades, tear gas and a water cannon. In a separate Reuters dispatch the same day, Reuters video footage showed police firing a shotgun towards crowds outside the education ministry during clashes with protesters. Reuters reporters found rubber pellets on the ground, and pellets hit two Reuters journalists and several protesters, leaving round marks. The incident marks an escalation in a confrontation that has engulfed central Tirana in recent days, in which demonstrators have burned government buildings and banks and hurled rocks at police.
Albania's police chief, Skender Hita, did not deny the use of rubber bullets when asked about it at a news conference on Saturday. "All means that were used were employed in a limited manner, including the most recent ones," he said. Hita said seven police officers had been suspended and were facing disciplinary investigations for "exceeding their authority" and "failure to respect the principle of proportionality" in dealing with protesters. He did not specify the incidents that led to the suspensions.
Police figures showed that 500 protesters had been detained so far, 330 of whom were released. Some 120 police officers and 45 protesters were registered as injured, although many injuries among protesters are likely to have gone unrecorded, Reuters said.
The unrest is emerging as the biggest threat to Rama, who has governed since 2013 and won a fourth term in elections last year. It follows months of largely peaceful protests triggered by plans for a luxury resort on Albania's pristine southern coastline, backed by investors including Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. Villagers told Reuters in July that their land had been wrongfully sold for the development. Reuters later reported that the man who sold the land was wanted by prosecutors on suspicion of drug trafficking, accusations his lawyer denied. Reuters found no evidence of wrongdoing by Kushner, who is not directly involved in the villagers' dispute.
Rama, who denies wrongdoing and told Reuters this week that he would not step down, said on Saturday on Facebook that his government respected the students and would protect their right to protest. "It's been 13 years of corruption and 13 years of doing nothing and empty promises. So the jar is filled and we are here for our rights," Juri Taullahu, a 22-year-old medical student, said on Saturday.
China's Xinhua news agency, reporting from Tirana on October 17, reviewed the previous day, October 16, the fourth day of the protests: the Education Ministry, the Justice Ministry and the central bank were attacked, and public institutions, banks, businesses and public facilities were damaged. Police figures released on October 16 showed 56 people arrested and another 97 placed under criminal investigation. The United Nations presence in Albania on October 16 called on all parties to stop the violence, reduce tensions and resolve differences through dialogue. (Note: the Xinhua figures are as of October 16, while the Reuters figures are police cumulative totals as of October 17.)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：阿尔巴尼亚首都地拉那市中心天际线资料照片。照片：Wikimedia Commons。File photo: the skyline of central Tirana, Albania. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
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