TIRANA, Feb 10 /ATA/ – The Minister of Interior Albana Koçiu said on Tuesday that violence during an opposition protest amounted to “an attempted murder,” after visiting police officers injured in clashes in the Albanian capital.
Speaking to reporters at the Trauma Hospital in Tirana, Koçiu said 16 police officers were injured after protesters hurled Molotov cocktails, improvised explosive devices, stones and other objects at security forces.
“This was not a protest and not a clash. This was an attempted killing,” Koçiu said, adding that the sole aim of the violence was to attack police officers in the line of duty.
She said some officers had suffered serious burns and confirmed that journalists were also injured during the unrest. Koçiu accused organisers of inciting repeated acts of violence and called on law enforcement authorities to bring those responsible to justice.
“Those who attacked police officers are not protesters. They are organised criminals,” she said, urging institutions to respond firmly to what she described as a dangerous precedent.
Koçiu later visited injured officers receiving treatment at the burns unit of Tirana’s University Hospital Centre, reiterating that peaceful protest is a constitutional right, but violence would not be tolerated.
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