Subscribers Only
Tirana, January 28, 2011 NOA - Albanian police say demonstrations planned by the opposition for Friday in Tirana pose a threat for national security, public order, human rights and freedoms.
At the same time, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha stated that everything is under control. Socialist Party branch President Besnik Bare stated on Thursday that “silence, lit candles and flowers” will be the way Albanian opposition demonstration on Friday will be organized in memory of the three victims of recent demonstrations. Bare invited citizens to distance from all the provocations. In clashes between civilians and police, during the demonstrations in Tirana on January 21, three people lost their lives and more than 150 were injured. Albanian police stated on Thursday that, given the violence shown on demonstration on January 21 and police structure information on presence of violent and armed persons, police cannot guarantee demonstrations on Friday will pass peacefully. At the same time, Prime Minister Sali Berisha stated that situation is absolutely under control. Immediate cause for the latest opposition protests, led by Socialist Party, was recent discovery that Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta was involved in the scandal regarding fixing a job with the provision of EUR 700,000. Confrontations of the two sides – government and opposition – started after the elections in mid-2009, as socialist claim Berisha got to his position by stealing votes, which is denied by the government.
