A protester spayed ink on the Ministry of Interior building’s wall during yesterday’s protest, which prompted Minister Sandër Lleshaj’s immediate response. He condemned the protester’s action through a Facebook post and accused Democratic Party’s leader Lulzim Basha of being responsible for it.
“[This is] The model of Lulzim Basha’s political behavior towards Albania’s Ministry of Interior, which he once disgraced by being its leader, and today tried to stain it in his own ways,” wrote minister Lleshaj in his post of a video showing the protester spraying the wall.
Minister Lleshaj has attacked protesters after each protest, stating their “improper behavior” against policemen, or even accusing them of obstructing the police’s war on crime in the country.
On March 21st, after the opposition protest, Minister Lleshaj wrote on Facebook:
“The blind protests attacking MPs, institutions and police, bring only one result. They hinder many police officers from dealing with their main task, namely the fight against crime.”
Two weeks ago, minister Lleshaj condemned the protesters’ actions against the police and expressed his regret for “the degradation of the parliamentary opposition in a state of para-politics” as well his “respect for the [sense of] responsibility and professionalism of the State Police.”
In fact, scrolling through his Facebook page it’s fairly easy to notice that since protests have erupted, minister Lleshaj has exclusively written statements condemning protesters, while completely ignoring several mafia-style murders happening in the last two weeks in the most densely populated city centers of the country, or even the murders of at least 8 women (here and here) since January 2019.
On March 22nd, Ravik Gurra, 50, was shot dead with a gun with silencer in a bar in central Elbasan. Gurra was the lawyer of the Shullazi criminal group, the notorious Çapja family and the “Hakmarrja për Drejtësi” criminal group.
On March 21st, Nard Polia, 35, was shot dead in Shkodra as he was driving.
On March 18th, Jurgen Kurti, 26, was shot dead near his house in central Tirana.
On March 16th, Haxhi Baçinozi, 62, was shot dead at the Lake Park while jogging. The area was full of people taking an evening stroll at the time of the crime.
Minister Lleshaj has repeatedly accused protesters of keeping the police busy, for spaying ink on a wall, for pushing police officers and a MP, for being parapolitical and violent, for coming from other cities to protest in Tirana, for not being consistent but only protesting on Thursdays, and for spoiling Albania’s image worldwide.
However, the minister has chosen to remain completely silent regarding every single mafia-style murder occurring in city centers in the last two weeks.
