SOURCE ALBANIAN NETWORK
According to local media reports, on December 9, in Tirana, the capital of Albania, a large number of demonstrators stormed the office facilities of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of the Interior, the Tirana City Hall and the Police Department. Albanian riot police fired tear gas to control the situation, and demonstrators threw stones and incendiary materials at government agencies and police.
Both demonstrators and police were reportedly injured. Nine of them were sent to the hospital for treatment, three of whom were seriously injured.
In the early morning of December 8th local time, a 25-year-old man named Klodian Rasha was shot dead by a special forces soldier in Tirana, who had been arrested by the Tirana police on suspicion of being outside the scope of self-defense. However, the incident triggered a strong reaction, and some young people protested through social media platforms.
Albanian police issued a statement after hours of chaos on December 9, calling some demonstrators extremists. The statement stressed that the Clodian incident cannot be a ground for violence, and the police will respond in accordance with the law. The statement warned that demonstrators who took extreme actions would bear serious legal consequences.
