Author: Klevis Paloka
Officially, the most recent report on police behavior from 2019 states that 19 percent of citizen complaints are against police officers, which are reported for arbitrary behavior to the Internal Affairs and Complaints Service. Such a figure shows that Albanian citizens are equally worried about corrupt policemen as well as violent ones. But complaints about arbitrary behavior are related to lack of ethics, non-respect of rights during various police actions to violence in police regions. A concern that at different times has exposed the police for arbitrary behavior, especially during operations to arrest suspects.
Annual report of 2019, SHCA
But the most typical case that showed the way the police react was again the seven-day protests, held day after day immediately after the murder of Klodian Rasha. The 25-year-old was shot dead with his service weapon while running to escape a patrol, in an attempt to disobey the Shqiponja forces. Contradictory information about the event, which raised questions about the actions of the policeman who killed Rasha, ignited protests through social networks that ended with the resignation of Interior Minister Sandër Lleshaj. The position of the Director General of the State Police, Ardi Veliu, remained intact despite the demands of the protesters for his removal and not long after the scandal of the beating of a minor by the police forces, for whose mother the Chief of Police had used even a harsh language himself, after which he apologized.
This time, the problems with the violence in the protest were brought before the judge of personal security measures, the arrested and their lawyers. In marathon sessions filled with escorts, each one showed how he was handcuffed for no reason, although meanwhile the police insisted that the policemen's lives had been endangered by hard objects and pyrotechnics.
What happened from December 8 to 15 was a series that began with protests and ended in the evening with arrests and escorts. "Late in the evening I found myself in the police stations, I didn't know where my son was, where he had been escorted, what he had done," Ismail B., a father who spent the hours after the protest both at the local police station and in court, told ACQJ until his son was released by the judge of measures Shefkie Demiraj.
Among young adults, the escorting and detention of minors is noticeable, who, despite the bill of rights, which requires notification of parents and a psychologist, were blatantly held in police stations. A minor with the initials AV, it turns out, was raped by civilian police officers, while the organization that monitored police activity states that "in his health record where this claim was reflected, it was noted that the minor had hematomas on the forehead and jaw on the left side".
At this point, the Albanian Helsinki Committee emphasizes in a letter sent to the director general of the police and a number of other officials that during the investigation of the protests, a lack of documentation was noticed where the guardians of the minors should have signed. "Failure to document the psychologist's access to the register of entries of persons in isolation and failure to notify the parents is contrary to the law," the AHC mentions, also listing details such as the minor's signature only in conditions of deprivation of liberty, even though he may have been held for a short time at the police station.
There was only violence or other mistakes?
Criticized for the reaction from time to time in various protests over the years, to what extent did the police exceed their powers during the protests of December 2020?
“The biggest and most obvious problem was the alleged violence ,” said a source at the Internal Affairs and Complaints Service, a structure under the Ministry of Interior that guarantees the implementation of the law by police officers and controls them for violations to the detriment of citizens’ interests. According to the official source of the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism, this service is handling a complaint from a young man, who insists that he was arrested and raped in violation of the constitution and freedom of assembly. But to the official question of the ACQJ to publish details of these complaints, the SHÇBA responded that 7 complaints are in process related to the allegations about the actions of the State Police structures during the December protests. Of these 7 complaints, 4 of them are in the verification process, while for the other 3 complaints all verifications have been carried out and the investigative materials have been referred to the Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of First Instance in Tirana. Regarding the initiation of the disciplinary investigation, the Police Ombudsman emphasizes that so far only 2 police officers are under investigation.
But what happened to the arrested people, did they use violence, did they arrest some of these people without concrete evidence?
5 young people interviewed by the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism, who protested and demanded justice for Klodian Rasha, insist that they did not commit any illegal act, or were not involved in the protests at all. Despite this, they ended up at Tirana's police station for hours.
Fatjon Jahaj tells the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism" that he did not engage in the protest, but accidentally found himself under the hands of the police because he was passing by the place of the protest.
"I wasn't in a protest, I was just passing by the presidency for my own pleasure and when I passed there there was no protest. There were no people gathered, so I wasn't in a protest for a single day, I was walking towards the artificial lake when I was stopped and arrested," Jahaj says.
The 25-year-old, who has worked in the army for 3 years, remembers that violence was used in Police Station No. 1, immediately after he refused to sign the statement where he had to admit that he was a protester.
"I refused to sign the statement that he wrote as if I had participated in the protest, while it is not true at all."
Jahaj was arrested on December 11 and after being held for 3 days in the detention cells, the court imposed a light measure on him, that of "15-day prison term". The young man was released from custody in Fushë Kruja on December 30, after the Prosecution lacked additional evidence through which his illegal actions could be proved. Apart from the freedom you were blatantly denied, the second damage to Jahaj was the loss of his job.
"I worked installing cameras and alarm systems with a security company, now I am unemployed because I lost my job due to the arrest and long stay in the Police Region and in the Fushë-Krujë prison." He turned to the Ombudsman in the hope that the violence inflicted on him will be revealed.
"I have filed a complaint about all the actions that the State Police have taken against me ," Jahaj concludes his story.
Another person who was arrested because he was filming the protest is Nderim Kurti, arrested on December 11. He saw prison until January 8, 2021. He also claims that he was beaten all the way from the boulevard to the police station.
"I went out to film the protest and on the second day I received a request from a social network managed by immigrants, Stopfakealbania.al, to film the entire event directly. On December 11, when I was arrested, when I was running towards my house, I was walking on the sidewalk, when at that moment the police van arrived and the police officer ordered me to stop. The officer told me that I was being arrested because I had thrown stones, I told him that I was simply filming, but he did not take my words into consideration at all and arrested me. They violently grabbed me and put me in the police van and while taking me to the police station, they used violence, they punched me in several parts of my body. I even had marks on the side of my forehead, but as the days passed, those marks disappeared, I asked to have a forensic examination to confirm the violence but they refused," says Kurti.
He was left in custody, according to the testimony of five police officers who, despite the claims, did not present any evidence against him.
"I spent 3 days in the detention cell and then the Court imposed a 10-day prison sentence. After 10 days, even though the prosecutor did not find new evidence, the Court decided to change the decision and gave me a prison sentence. I was sent to the Fushë-Krujë Prison to serve the sentence given by the Court. After appealing the decision by my lawyers, I managed to get out of prison on January 8, 2021," said the 25-year-old.
Kurti also confesses that he stayed for 3 weeks without communicating with his family and that he was forced to be quarantined in an isolation room for 14 days in Fushë-Kruja Prison.
Unlike his peer Jahaj, Kurti insists that his next action is to submit a report to the prosecutor's office. But until the day of publication of the article, he had not submitted this criminal complaint to the prosecution.
The protest was not tolerated even in the premises of the police!
Others claim during the interview with ACQJ that they were violently treated even when they were locked inside the escort rooms.
For the excellent student of General Medicine, Arjon Kuçuku, the court's decision was easier. He was ordered to remain under house arrest.
"I was lying on the white lines at the bridge that takes you to the Police Department, and there I was very peaceful, because that was the purpose of lying on the ground. There they surrounded me and arrested me, one of the police officers giving the order, telling the others to surround me and arrest me. They used violence against me while escorting me inside the police station, an officer from the Arrows who constantly gave me orders and I obeyed his orders, but he hit me on the legs and head because I was not obeying his orders. Meanwhile, inside the Police Department, a police officer with number 00992 hit me. He hit me because I wrote something on the wall to pass the time. He came inside the escort room and kicked me on the left cheek, the right cheek and the back, and this is also evidenced by the security cameras inside the Police Department. Two other people who came inside were also arrested with me. "After spending 72 hours in detention, the Court ruled for 14 days of house arrest and after completing this sentence, I am now required to report without notice because the investigations have not been closed," says the excellent General Medicine student who is preparing the complaint to the Albanian Medical Association.
When there was no violence, there was a violation of the law...
Unlike the three victims, 23-year-old Vilson Kulemani was not raped, but according to him, the arrest was procedurally incorrect.
"I was held for 92 hours in security rooms when the time limit for holding is 72 hours. The first decision of the Court was house arrest for 17 days, a decision which I appealed and the Court of Appeal decided to make me report twice a month," says Kulemani.
For the 23-year-old, the measure of house arrest has had a negative impact on his family, as he is the person who takes care of his mother, who is disabled.
"House arrest has prevented me from performing some Services that she needs, so this decision has affected my entire family," the 23-year-old concludes.
Violence in the districts...?
As in Tirana, the protests for Klodiani also involved several other cities and as a result the local police escorted and arrested suspects there.
One of those arrested in the city of Durrës is Artion Barjamaj. With suspicions of illegal assembly and spreading panic in the public, the young man ended up under flagrant arrest.
"On December 15, after the decision in the official gazette that the murder of Klodian Rasha was accidental, we decided that together with three friends we would protest in a special way, we secured a coffin and placed some writings. Initially, we gathered at the Palace of Culture towards the north of the city, we had a coffin with an Albanian flag on our side and some writings like "Who is next?", "Justice for Klodian", "Democracy", "Justice in Albania", we were walking on the sidewalk and the State Police came out in front of us and stopped us with the argument of illegal gathering and spreading panic in the public or in other words false information. After some discussions among the police officers, they decided to accompany us to the police station and then announced the arrest measure, for me and one of the other protesters", says Barjamaj.
His arrest was deemed illegal a few hours later.
"According to the court, I was a participant in the protest and not an organizer, while the second point was not taken into consideration, namely the spread of panic. There is also a legal loophole since the Council of Ministers for the state of emergency has been repealed and gathering based on the Constitution is the right of every person. Since from the perspective of work, a serious problem has been caused to me, I have thought about filing a criminal report against the State Police ," the 30-year-old says.
And what was the most difficult moment for him?
"The part where I was most affected was the part when I was escorted by the Police to the Court and there they put handcuffs on me and I felt like I was a criminal who had committed a serious crime," he concludes his story for the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism, Barjamaj.
The police in front of the protesters
But unlike the descriptions of the young people and the prosecutors who went down to the courtrooms and where in some cases they asked for additional time for the evidence, the Police reported with conviction about the damages.
"As a result of the violence with stones, stone slabs, hard objects and pyrotechnics, 5 police officers were injured, causing serious physical damage, horizontal and vertical signage on the aforementioned roads, traffic lights, street lighting chandeliers were destroyed, garbage bins were set on fire, and major material damage was caused to state institutions and private entities ," was part of the State Police announcement dated December 11, 2020, regarding the arrest of 59 people.
The criminal offenses that were addressed to the protesters ranged from organizing and participating in illegal gatherings and demonstrations, "Opposing a public order police officer ", "Obstructing the circulation of means of transport ", "Disturbing public peace ", "Destruction of property by fire" and "Disobedience to the order of a public order police officer" and "Possession and use of explosives and pyrotechnics" . These charges cost the freedom in the capital to 92 citizens, four of whom were minors between the ages of 16 and 17. 345 others were proceeded with in a free state and were referred to this state for further investigations.
What did the court and the Ombudsman say?
From this number of arrested persons, the Court of First Instance of Tirana gave the first slap to the police by sending most of the suspects home. Only 3 people remained in prison, the others were released from prison for 10 to 15 days and 36 were released under the measure of obligation to appear.
Monitored by the People's Advocate, the protest was seen in a different light. It was the police stations filled with protesters that were considered overcrowded.
"Also, the preliminary report of December 11 and 12 states that the Tirana Local Directorate, on December 11, 2020, had 33 arrested persons, a high number compared to the respective capacities, especially in the conditions of the need to guarantee distancing due to the health emergency ," states the preliminary report of the People's Advocate for December 11-12.
*Cover photo taken from Dosja.al
