TIRANA, Oct 27 /ATA/ Jorida Tabaku, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Public Information Media, has called on Interior Minister Ervin Demo and Director General of the State Police Skënder Hitaj to report to the committee on violence against protesters over the past 14 days.
Speaking at the committee meeting, Tabaku addressed the protests held across the country, stressing that citizens had been protesting for 150 days to demand measures related to the European integration process.
Tabaku said the protests had initially focused on the strategic investments law, which she described as clientelist and corrupt, arguing that it had channelled public assets and tax cuts to a handful of businesses with close ties to the government. Protesters had also called for the repeal of the Mountain Package and the adoption of environmental protection legislation. She stressed that all three demands were linked to Albania’s EU integration process, had also been raised by the opposition and were obligations the government was required to fulfil as part of the accession negotiations.
According to Tabaku, following 150 days of protests, students began their own mobilisation two weeks ago.
“The students’ protest prompted all of us to reflect, and I believed the majority would reflect as well. It was a protest against what this parliament has produced: a political system that is underrepresented and which, unfortunately, now makes decisions simply by raising its voting cards, without bringing about any improvement in citizens’ lives,” she said.
Tabaku said that, on behalf of the opposition, she had requested that Interior Minister Ervin Demo, State Police Director General Skënder Hitaj and the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination report to the committee.
“We have witnessed violence in the streets of Tirana. I assure you, without any political bias, that young people have been subjected to brutality. A total of 1,000 young people have been taken into police custody, 250 of whom are minors,” she said.
Tabaku called for the Interior Minister to report to parliament on police violence against protesters and journalists, citing 47 journalists who had been threatened, intimidated or attacked, allegedly by police in 43 cases. Meanwhile, Socialist Party MP Ardit Bido criticised the opposition for obstructing parliamentary debate and institutional accountability.
Socialist Party MP Ardit Bido said the Interior Minister would report to the committee, accusing the opposition of breaching parliamentary ethics, obstructing debate and undermining institutional accountability. He also called for parliament to address substantive issues, including the upcoming social package and pre-trial detention, rather than raising concerns selectively.
Bido accused the Democratic Party of covering up violence, claiming that masked protesters posing as students were, in fact, DP supporters who collected Molotov cocktails from party offices to attack police and public property. He urged the opposition to condemn violence rather than engage in what he described as political theatrics.
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