In an interview with the Voice of America, Minister of Interior Affairs Dritan Demiraj announced yesterday that he sought the dismissal of 3 regional police chiefs, over involvement in the electoral campaign. According to the report Minister Demiraj has fired the police chiefs in Dibra, Gramsh, and Puka.
I have requested the dismissal of 2–3 chiefs of commissariats which have not been up to par and we have had several people who in one form or the other not have adhered to the implementation of the law as regards being neutral during the electoral campaign. I have request the dismissal of the chief of the commissariat in Puka. There have been repeated incidents, I receive daily denunciations that he supports a certain electoral subject. For this reason I have also sought the dismissal of two chiefs of commissariats, of Dibra and Gramsh.
Minister Demiraj also stated that the police is working hard to investigate the violent incidents between LSI and PS supporters in the last few days.
The statement of Minister Demiraj stands in stark contrast with claims of Director-General of the State Police Haki Çako, who claimed that the police is “depoliticized.”
