Follow-Up: Albania Protests Enter an Eighth Day in Tirana: Police Use Tear Gas and Water Cannons as Prosecutors Formalise Corruption Charges Against the Former Deputy Prime Minister
TIRANA — Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to push back protesters in the Albanian capital on Tuesday, the eighth straight day of violent anti-government demonstrations, the Associated Press reported. High school and university students demanding lower tuition fees, greater state investment in education and action against corruption in the education system have joined a broader movement calling for the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama. Figures cited by the BBC put the toll before Monday's violence at 295 people injured, 186 of them police officers, with 271 arrests during the first seven days.
For days, protesters have hurled rocks, flares, firebombs and fireworks at police, who have answered with batons, water cannons and tear gas in the city centre; government buildings, banks and a post office have been set on fire or badly damaged, parts of the Supreme Court of Albania were set on fire earlier in the unrest, and protesters set fire to the entrance of the Bank of Albania. On Sunday, 141 university lecturers signed a statement condemning police violence against students and demanding an interim government, while Rama announced a bonus of roughly $2,800 for frontline police officers, plus salary increases for 2027.
In a development feeding the anger on the streets, prosecutors on Tuesday formalised corruption charges against former deputy prime minister Belinda Balluku, the Special Prosecution Office said in an emailed statement to media. Balluku, who also served as infrastructure minister, was charged with interfering in the award of two construction contracts in 2021 worth more than 200 million euros ($225 million); the final charges include violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions, passive corruption of high-ranking state officials and laundering the proceeds of criminal activity. Balluku, 53, denied wrongdoing when originally charged late last year; Rama dismissed her in February, but an attempt to strip her of parliamentary immunity, which prevents her being arrested, failed. On Tuesday, protesters gathered outside an education ministry building in Tirana shouting 'Balluku to jail!', and were pushed back by police using water cannon and tear gas, Reuters reported.
Rama, in power since 2013 and winner of a fourth consecutive term in last year's election, has refused to step down and has condemned the violence. Reuters reported that he said the government would consider lowering the age for criminal liability and imposing a social media ban for those under 16 in response to the protests. The movement grew out of the 'Flamingo' campaign that began on May 31 against tourism development at Zvërnec, and has also drawn in criticism of a luxury coastal development linked to Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, over environmental concerns and government transparency.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 地拉那 Skanderbeg 广场资料图。照片：Pudelek 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / File photo of Skanderbeg Square in Tirana. Photo by Pudelek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-17Albanian Student Protests Enter Fifth Day: Police Accused of Firing Rubber Bullets; 500 Detained, 120 Officers and 45 Protesters Injured
- 2026-10-18Albanian PM Rama Rejects Calls to Step Down, Says Protests Threaten EU Path, Not His Government; Police Say 388 Charged
- 2026-10-21Follow-Up: Albania Protests Enter an Eighth Day in Tirana: Police Use Tear Gas and Water Cannons as Prosecutors Formalise Corruption Charges Against the Former Deputy Prime MinisterThis story
- 2026-10-24Follow-Up: Albania's Saturday Anti-Government Protest in Tirana Ends in Clashes; Authorities Say Over 300 Protesters and Police Injured Combined
- 2026-10-25Follow-Up: Fresh Protests Erupt in Tirana as Albania's PM Edi Rama Imposes 500,000-Lek Fines Over Violent Protests
