TIRANA, Sept 2 /ATA/ – Police in Tirana arrested 14 people and launched criminal proceedings against three others after they allegedly resisted police officers and blocked access to and from the prime minister’s office during a protest, while senior state officials were inside the high-security government building.
The Tirana Local Police Directorate on Wednesday said the arrests followed investigative and procedural actions related to a protest held on Tuesday evening near the prime minister’s office.
The 14 people were arrested at the scene, while criminal proceedings were initiated against the three others without detention, police said.
According to police, at around 8 p.m. on Sept. 1, a group of protesters gathered on Ismail Qemali Street, on the southern side of the prime minister’s office, blocking access to and from the building while senior state officials were present.
Police officers formed a security cordon to prevent the protesters from entering further into the designated security perimeter.
Police said the protesters remained on Ismail Qemali Street, in front of the prime minister’s office, for about 30 minutes despite repeated appeals over loudspeakers to disperse and clear the road.
Officers also warned the protesters that their actions violated the law, disrupted public order and tranquillity and breached the security perimeter of a high-security state institution. They were also told that the protest was obstructing vehicle traffic and the free movement of senior state officials, police said.
Despite the warnings, the protesters continued to chant and actively resist the police officers deployed as part of the security cordon, according to police.
Police said that when officers moved to disperse the protesters in order to clear the entrances to the prime minister’s office and reopen the road, the protesters actively resisted, sat down in the street and continued blocking the building’s entrance and the road. Some protesters also allegedly struck and pushed police officers.
The case materials were referred to the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office for further action on charges including organising or participating in unlawful gatherings and demonstrations, resisting public-order police officers, disturbing public order and obstructing vehicle traffic, police said.
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