Fifteen people were treated in Tirana hospitals on Saturday after a protest that began outside the Ministry of Education turned into six hours of running clashes across the capital. Masked groups set fire to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, torched the door of the Ministry of Environment, threw molotov cocktails at the Bank of Albania, the Puppet Theatre and the Municipality of Tirana, and smashed the windows of banks and a mobile operator’s shop. Police responded with water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. By evening the head of the Socialist Party’s parliamentary group had published screenshots he said came from a Telegram group instructing protesters which windows to break and which businesses to burn.
Tirana Examiner Newsroom
The day ended three days of relative calm in the capital, where protests against the government have run for more than two weeks.
Afternoon: from the Education Ministry to the square
The protest gathered on Rruga e Durrësit outside the Ministry of Education shortly after 14:00. Report TV’s live coverage, carried by Shqiptarja.com, recorded the singer Irini Qirjako among the crowd at 14:07 “in support of the young people”, while Democratic Party militants, who had until then been standing outside the Prime Minister’s Office, marched to join. At the entrance to Rruga e Durrësit the two groups met with competing chants. The PD militants shouted “Rama to prison, Belinda to prison”; the other protesters answered “Berisha to prison”.
The first incidents came at 14:25, when masked protesters dragged rubbish bins in front of the police line and set them alight. A minute later protesters were filmed prising up pavement slabs, which Report TV described as preparation for attacks on the ministry. At 14:28 stones and firecrackers were thrown at officers and police answered with pressurised water; tear gas had not yet been used. Drone footage at 14:41 showed Rruga e Durrësit covered in smoke, which the outlet called “a war arena”.
At 14:43 Report TV noted that PD militants “appear to have chosen to stay somewhat more distant from the rest of the protesters”, positioning themselves at the junction of Skënderbej Square and Rruga e Durrësit rather than outside the ministry.
Water cannon pursued the crowd from Rruga e Durrësit to Skënderbej Square, where firecrackers and blank cartridges were thrown back. By 15:15 protesters had reached the Prime Minister’s Office, where masked men threw “volleys of stones, torches and blank cartridges” at officers while the crowd chanted “Resignation”. Police used water and tear gas. One protester was filmed praying in the middle of the Dëshmorët e Kombit boulevard as the water cannon worked; an officer approached to move him for his safety and he refused, continuing to pray.
At 15:34 the Democratic Party MP and former judge Gjin Gjoni was filmed in a physical confrontation with police on the boulevard. Report TV reported that Gjoni appeared to have been affected by tear gas, and footage showed him rubbing his eyes and splashing them with water as others gathered around him. At 15:37 police gave the order to use rubber bullets alongside pepper spray and water. Within two minutes the boulevard was empty of protesters. Some sheltered in Rinia Park, where smoke devices were thrown and police again fired rubber bullets. RENEA special forces took up position outside the Prime Minister’s Office at 15:45, and the first protesters were escorted away by police, one filmed being led into the Assembly’s administrative entrance.
The leaders named
By 16:06 the crowd had split into groups moving through different streets. Report TV reported that the group moving near the PD headquarters was “seen to be led by Belind Këlliçi and Bledion Nallbati”, adding that “it is understood that they instructed protesters to attack officers”. Drone footage at 16:12 showed clashes on the Small Ring Road near the PD building, with protesters in retreat under water cannon.
At 16:51 the outlet reported that on the Zhan D’Ark boulevard protesters “led by the son of Sali Lushaj, Arkimed (the rapper known as Stresi)” were throwing volleys of molotov cocktails and fireworks at officers before pulling back. “Arkimed Lushaj is also carrying a bag that appears to be full of molotov cocktails,” the report said, noting that “unlike other protests, where Stresi has shown he was among the masked participants, this time he did not hide.”
The outlet’s summary of the day stated that the masked protesters “returned to the ritual of past days of attacks with stones, blank cartridges and fireworks” under the orders of Këlliçi, Nallbati and Lushaj.
Skënderbej Square
Tear gas was fired on Skënderbej Square at 16:15 as a group gathered there and others again broke up pavement slabs. At 16:32 a protester on the boulevard was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” in front of police, continuing as officers told him to leave and as the water cannon was turned on. At 16:39 Report TV filmed a protester holding a metal bar around two metres long, with police positioned between the Socialist Party headquarters and the Puppet Theatre. Another masked protester was filmed firing a slingshot.
At 16:41 protesters set fire to the door of the Ministry of Environment. The flames went out within moments, leaving the door blackened. At 17:00 molotov cocktails were thrown at the Puppet Theatre and its exterior caught fire. At 17:04 a group of masked protesters on the square armed themselves with sticks.
A woman protester was injured in the head at 17:07. Shortly before, she had been filmed placing a red rose on one of the water cannon vehicles.
At 17:12 masked protesters used metal railings to smash the glass of the guard booth at the Bank of Albania, then moved to the building’s security cameras and broke them with bars. At 17:18 an officer near the Socialist Party headquarters was engulfed in flames from a molotov cocktail; footage showed him running and rolling on the ground before colleagues reached him with an extinguisher. Report TV later reported that two officers had suffered burns to the legs from pyrotechnics.
By 17:28 the square was described as a “battlefield”, with constant stones, molotovs and fireworks from the masked group and small fires burning across the paving. Masked protesters were heard directing each other as they ran: “Come this way lads, we’ve got stones here.” At 17:41 masked men kicked at the door of the Municipality of Tirana in an attempt to get inside, while a woman protester was heard saying “Come on, we carry on forward.” At 17:53 molotovs were thrown at the entrance of the Bank of Albania. Protesters repeatedly tried to attack the Socialist Party headquarters with fireworks.
Evening: the Infrastructure Ministry burns
At 18:16 the crowd began marching from Skënderbej Square back toward the boulevard. At 18:21 Report TV reported that protesters had set fire to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy and thrown a molotov at the Municipality. “The situation in Skënderbej Square is extremely chaotic,” the report said.
At 18:40 protesters on George W. Bush street opposite the Assembly were throwing “countless fireworks and molotovs” at police and using lasers to distract officers. TemA reported at 18:10 that protesters had laid metal “stars” on the boulevard to puncture the tyres of police vehicles, and at 19:05 that a gas cylinder bound with blank cartridges had been used against police.
From 18:52 the groups dispersed through the city, burning rubbish bins at the entrance to Rruga e Durrësit and setting fire to a kiosk beside a bus stop opposite the Bank of Albania at 19:12. At 19:23 a group marching along Rruga e Kavajës broke the windows of a bank. At 19:42 protesters on Rruga Vasil Shanto used metal barriers and iron bars to smash the glass façade of a mobile operator’s shop. At 19:53 a masked protester climbed a pole and tore down security cameras.
At 20:10 police were escorting further protesters to the station. One was filmed walking beside an officer and smiling at the cameras.
The injured
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare issued two bulletins. The first, timed 16:30, listed eight people treated: at the University Hospital Centre one member of the Assembly, one female media representative and four protesters, all discharged after treatment; at the Trauma Hospital one police officer and one male media representative, both in stable condition. Report TV identified the MP as Gjin Gjoni.
By 20:03 the count had risen to fifteen. Nine had presented at the Trauma Hospital, seven protesters and two journalists; a young man wounded in the eye on Skënderbej Square, who was driven to the hospital in a Report TV vehicle, was being examined but was not in danger to life. Four remained at the Trauma Hospital. At Mother Teresa hospital one protester and one officer had been treated and released. Two officers with eye injuries were treated at Polyclinic No. 2 and released.
The police statement
The State Police issued its statement at 19:50, with a video showing nails, stones, iron bars, molotov cocktails, metal caltrops and fireworks it said had been used by protesters.
“During today’s protest, State Police employees have faced continuous acts of violence which directly endanger their lives and health, as well as the safety of citizens,” the statement said. “The State Police calls on all participants in the protest to distance themselves from the masked and violent persons who are attacking police employees and institutions and damaging public and private property.”
“We call on citizens to avoid the areas where acts of violence are being committed and not to become part of actions that infringe public order and safety. The right to protest peacefully is guaranteed by law. Violence, attacks on police employees and damage to public and private property are unacceptable and are punishable by law. Every violent act that endangers the lives of police employees and citizens will be dealt with in accordance with the law. The State Police continues to be on duty to guarantee public order and safety, in implementation of the law and in the service of citizens.”
The government’s day
At 08:25 Prime Minister Edi Rama placed a stone table with invitations to dialogue outside the Prime Minister’s Office; Report TV filmed passers-by tearing up the invitations. Justice Minister Toni Gogu posted at 09:53: “The right to protest is guaranteed. Violence is not part of it. Involvement in acts of violence may bring criminal liability.” He cited the role of the Centre for the Prevention of Crimes by Minors and Young People in raising awareness of legal consequences.
In a series of remarks before 12:00, Rama said that violence at the rallies “was caused by persons radicalised by ANTIFA and organised crime”, that “a protest is held to be heard, not to overthrow the government by force”, and that he had “listened to the complaints for four months” and believed protesters wanted dialogue “but are afraid of being labelled traitors”. He described the previous days’ events as “urban terror that sought to bring the Government to its knees” and said the state’s response would be “prolonged and intensive”, with “the inspirers of the violence paying financially and the perpetrators criminally”. He said measures would be published soon. Interior Minister Ervin Demo said masked perpetrators were being identified through technology. Rama left the Prime Minister’s Office at 11:30 after the invitation to dialogue.
At 12:19 Report TV published drone footage of what it called the failure of the PD’s “national protest”, showing “a small group of militants in the square” and noting Sali Berisha’s absence.
Deputy Prime Minister Albana Koçiu posted twice. At 15:16, over footage of a small group marching, she wrote: “When the attempt to fabricate by great force a ‘people’s revolution’ fails, you end up as part of the violent gang of those who care neither for the students nor for Albania’s future. Dialogue is the road of those who have arguments, while violence is the blind alley of those who have nothing left to offer.”
Her second post, at 18:50, read in full: “The time when they threw the stone and hid the hand is over. Today, the one ordering the violence has come out into the open, has taken full authorship of the destruction and has himself torn up the alibi of the ‘angry crowd’. The Democratic Party has long since become a genuine force of violence, in the square, in the hall of the Assembly of Albania, in every channel of communication, media or online. Albania’s future can never be built by those who have not worked a single day in its interest. They did not do it when they governed in Albania’s name and they are not doing it today, when they engage openly and with premeditation to destabilise the country, simply on account of their political despair. But this twisted calculation, like every other calculation of theirs, old or new, will again prove wrong. Albanians do not want violence, Albanians want Europe. Stop the attack on State Police officers!”
Rama posted twice in the afternoon. At 18:44 he published a video timed 15:30 showing PD militants in the courtyard of the party headquarters, captioned “At the University of Violence”. After opposition protesters burned the cushions and seating of his dialogue table outside the Prime Minister’s Office, he wrote: “Here is the mother of violence too, the Democratic Party, which after burning and destroying with the masks of so-called ‘students’ together with ANTIFA and the other thugs of Tirana, came out today for the copyright of urban terror.”
The Telegram screenshots
At 17:18 Taulant Balla, head of the Socialist Party’s parliamentary group, published a video showing a group of masked protesters entering and leaving the PD headquarters. His caption read: “Molotov depot: THE PD HEADQUARTERS.” TemA separately reported at 17:00 that “the group of molotovs and masks” had again sheltered in the PD building.
At 18:58 Balla published screenshots he said were from a Telegram group in which protesters were given instructions. “Everything according to the orders given to them by message,” he wrote on Facebook.
The screenshot shows a sequence of messages timed 18:35. A user named GUERRILS writes “Toptani, fast”, a reference to the Toptani shopping centre. Another writes “Go for it.” A user named Gugu Gaga writes “Toptani is to be burned.” A user named A A asks “What do we hit it with?” GUERRILS writes “Break their windows.” A user named Kla, marked as an administrator of the group, writes “Join up. Don’t walk around casually, stay close to each other.” Gugu Gaga adds “And Hotel Plaza.” An earlier message from a user named Axel L, replying to a video, reads “No, oh dear, what a shame.”
TemA reported the material under the headline “Burn the two big businesses in the centre of Tirana”, writing that “protesters are instructed through messages to break windows and burn two of the biggest businesses in the capital”. Neither Shqiptarja nor TemA named the businesses. The screenshot shows neither the group’s name nor its membership.
No attack on the Toptani centre or Hotel Plaza had been reported by either outlet as of 20:20.
Complaints against the police
On Friday evening a group of organisations and citizens filed a criminal complaint with the Special Prosecution against Hita, accusing him of deploying unidentifiable officers and of unlawful use of force during the protests. The same day, Lapaj accused Rama of publishing photographs of protesters with criminal records in order “to justify police violence”.
No response from the Democratic Party to Balla’s video, to the Telegram screenshots, or to the naming of Këlliçi, Nallbati and Lushaj was available in the sources consulted at the time of writing.
Reporting is based on the live coverage of Report TV and Shqiptarja.com, TemA, and the published statements of the State Police, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the officials named.
