The Albanian prosecutors issued two arrest warrants on Thursday over the murder of an alleged Socialist Party activist on Wednesday in Elbasan. Police arrested one person, while the other one is on the run. In addition, ten more people were either detained or arrested in relation to the incident.
Last year, Albania’s General Prosecutor has considered the city of Elbasan to be controlled by crime.
Official account by the Albanian police one day after the incident
The head of the Albanian police Ardi Veliu and that of Elbasan prosecutor Alfred Shehu held a press statement on Thursday, one day after the armed incident that left one dead and four wounded, including a police officer.
Veliu gave the following official information regarding the incident and police work since then.
Police arrested Arber Paplekaj today on charges of murder, tentative of murder of a police officer, forcefully depriving someone of freedom.
Nine others – Arjan Hoxha, Pavlo Vuksani, Emiljan Prenga, Juljan Mataj, Erald Guga, Erjon Demushi, Taulant Ymeri, Roland Xhepa, Nuredin Kasma – were also arrested today on charges of forceful deprivation of freedom, in collaboration. They are all opposition Democratic Party activists.
Another man, Klement Xhaferri, was put on the wanted list. He is suspected of tentative murder of several people.
Eldjo Beko was also arrested for attempting to conceal the truth.
The course of events
At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Arjan Hoxha called the Elbasan police, introduced himself as working for the PD campaign and said he was involved in an incident with several people at “Lef Nosi” street.
A police patrol was immediately deployed, including two deputy police directors of Elbasan covering departments of investigations and security.
Arjan Hoxha left a group of people and told the police they had stopped a person, who they alleged was buying votes on behalf of a political party. They had also stopped the person’s (M.G.) plateless car. The group of 10 people arrested is charged with depriving this person of freedom.
Ardi Veliu stressed that most of the group were former military/police officers, they are not Elbasan residents, they claimed to be volunteering for the PD to protect votes, and drove on three cars with the PD logo on.
“After the arrival of police, the conflict that had started earlier escalated to the point of using firearms, as a result of which citizen Pjerin Xhuvani remained dead, Emiljan Prenga, Pavlo Vuksani, Eltjon Bodinaku, and police officer Xh.S. were wounded,” Veliu said.
Police seized 20 cartridge cases caliber 9 and 11.1 millimeters, 4 projectiles, 3 cars with the PD logo, the plateless car, another Mercedes Benz car, 11 cell phones, video recordings. A pistol was also seized from Arber Lekaj, the murder suspect.
The head of the Albanian police stated that they found no illegal objects or items suspected to be used to buy votes inside the plateless car.
After reading the statement, Veliu and the prosecutor listened to journalists’ questions, but refused to answer how exactly the incident escalated in the presence of police officials, and who fired first. They said this was part of the investigation’s secrecy.
Ruling Socialist Party account of the incident
MP Taulant Balla, who is leading the Socialist Party campaign in Elbasan accused his counterpart of the Democratic Party, Gazment Bardhi of having driven the killer in his car away from the crime scene.
On Wednesday, he said that no “PS representative” was engaged in criminal activities and vote buying, but declined to answer whether the victim and other people involved in the incident were PS activists.
He added that PD people “brought in from other cities” had committed “criminal acts” against citizens by “forcefully stopping and checking every car circulating in certain areas in Elbasan”, and that the MP had reported this to the Elbasan police yesterday, before the crime.
Opposition Democratic Party account of the incident
Opposition MP candidate in Elbasan, Gazment Bardhi accused Taulant Balla of having engaged criminals to buy votes for the PS.
He said their electoral campaign staff received information on a plateless car driven by Met Dafllaku, who was giving away money in exchange of votes, and was collecting voters’ ID cards. The PD sent their so-called “team to protect the vote” to verify the situation.
The team is composed of former police officers, Bardhi said.
They reported the case to the police, who came to the place, and started to verify the case. Meanwhile, other people arrived in their cars, including persons with criminal precedents whom the PD had reported earlier to the prosecutor’s office.
One of the suspects, Klement Xhaferri (now on the run) took out his arm and shot towards the PD activists, wounding two of them – Pavlo Vuksani and Emiljano Prenga. A fire exchange ensued then.
Bardhi said the PD activists video recorded the evidence inside the plateless car that shows proof of vote buying, and police should now be in possession of the recordings.
