Albania Govt Faces Backlash Over Police Force Against Protesters

Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj, Prime Minister Edi Rama and the police in general faced growing criticism on Wednesday for the force used to disperse protests in Tirana on Sunday against the demolition of the National Theatre.

While some critics complained that the violence was excessive and disproportionate, others voiced suspicions that it was deliberate - part of a strategy to discourage other protests in future.

The Professional Journalists' Association of Albania called on Prime Minister Rama to personally condemn the violence used against at least two media employees on Sunday.

"Up till now, there has been no public apology and no investigation or prosecution of the perpetrators of the violence," their statement said. "This leads us to think that the violence against the media was not incidental but was targeted," it added.

Taunted by social media users on his Facebook page, Rama has repeatedly denied any violence occurred on Sunday. Even when faced with a photo of a police officer with his boot on the head of a protester, Rama suggested it was not be as bad as it seemed.

Meanwhile, eight protesters arrested for refusing police orders and for holding an illegal protest were ordered into house arrest or freed pending trial by a court on Wednesday.

Among them was Broiken Abazi, a leader of the Vetevendosje movement in Tirana, an NGO related to the party of the same name in Kosovo. Abazi published a letter from prison, accusing Rama of using arrests and violence to intimidate protesters.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Lleshaj rejected criticism of the police in a long Facebook post on Thursday. "The police don't operate on political orders," he wrote.

"It was not a decision of the police to destroy the National...

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