The General Director of the Police who has been called on to resign following his dismissal of police violence against a child by trying to smear the mother has said his comments were taken out of context.
State Police were caught on film beating up a 15-year-old boy at the lake park because he broke lockdown.
Ardi Veliu appeared during a Security Commission video call and presented a video of the child’s mother, an actress, holding a gun. He commented: “This is the mother of the boy, with a pistol in her hand. Tell me what kind of family this child comes from? How educated he is? After all, the police, as always, become victims.”
The footage of the child’s mother, Zaida Cobo was taken when she was on set for a film she was appearing in, directed by Drilon Hoxha.
Following the public outcry and calls for Veliu to be dismissed or resign immediately, he responded by saying it was “out of context”. He said that “I have made an example of the idea that a police officer cannot be blamed all the time by being caught after a random photo without considering the whole context of the situation.”
It is not clear exactly how his comments or the beating of a child were taken out of context. The video footage clearly shows the child being assaulted. Furthermore, Veliu’s comments, also on video, show he is stating that the child comes from a bad family and is uneducated.
