Albanian Police Sue Opposition Leader, Say He Urged Violence

After weeks of protest in Albania, the police have sued Opposition Leader Lulzim Basha for encouraging violence against the government from protesters. Basha reportedly told police “you want a fight? A fight it will be. Puncture the car tires, break the glasses. Time will come to drag (officials) at this square.” Though he is denying these claims, Basha did tell police that his party and their supports will “not stay like sheep but hit back strongly.” If he is found guilty, Basha could face up to three years of jail time.

For the last two weeks, protests, led by the Democratic Party, have blocked the main street in Tirana, the nation’s capital in opposition to upcoming parliament elections and judicial reform. Since the fall of communism, the Albanian government has suffered from massive corruption. On June 18, the country hopes to weed out corruption with a new judicial reform created by the United States and the European Union. Some officials hope that this will increase Albania’s chances on entering the EU. However, the Democratic Party does not trust the ruling Socialist Party and fears that they will corrupt the vetting process of judicial candidates. Instead, the Democratic Party want a caretaker cabinet in place in June to ensure “a path to a real democracy.” Basha and other members of the opposition party have boycotted parliament and encouraged protests for weeks. Basha told supporters, “I ask you to not accept anything less than the European model for things. What is good for Europe is also good for Albanians; what is not good for Europe, it should be the same here as well.”

The protests have already been met with backlash, not only from the Albanian ruling party but from the international community as well. Many government officials in Albania and the EU are calling for compromise from the Democratic Party. The Rapporteur of Albania in the European Parliament, Knut Fleckenstein on February 22 announced, “I ask my colleagues and friends in the Democratic Party to continue to do what they believe is important, but I call on them to return to their job. This is not just my stand but is also that of Commissioner Hahn, of the [EU] High Representative [Federica] Mogherini, of all of us.” Additionally, American Ambassador Donald Lu responded to the boycott by saying that, “the USA supports the request for free and fair elections for the decriminalization and free media, but these issues should not be related with the judicial reform and vetting.” The EU has announced that if the protests continue, Albania will likely not be accepted into the European Union.

Despite the backlash and the possibility of imprisonment, Basha and his supporters continue their protest. Some European countries fear that protesters will act on the calls for violence and hope a compromise can be met before the situation escalates. However, Basha claims that the protests are in fact “grandiose, popular, democratic, total, and peaceful” not “a call to war like the police are suggesting.” In spite of his reassurances, the peace of Albania, which is already a fragile democracy riddled with crime and corruption, remains in the balance until June.

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