Albania’s Interior Minister, Ervin Demo and State Police Director-General Skender Hita have provided a balance of the situation created in the capital over the past few weeks under protests.

Demo named the level of violence as unprecedented, stressing that this situation has been a major challenge for State Police officers.

There are 347 injured in total, 200 of them cops. Some of them have suffered serious injuries, were injured 107 protesters, 39 passersby, including a considerable number of journalists, he suggested.

According to him, 7 State Police officers have been suspended from office and put under investigation, while the Police Supervision Agency is considering dozens of other cases referred to by the State Police themselves.

The government’s approach is clear. We are open at any moment to sit down and dialogue with everyone, he underlined.

As for the presence of minors at the rally, he said organisers have placed them on the front line of attack.

Social dating shows that the number of minors is very disturbing. 269 persons under the age of 18, he said.

The technologicalisation of the State Police is a must, so we will work intensively to take quick steps in this direction. One of the first elements is increasing transparency of actions through body cameras, which will soon be put into operation, starting with state police employees in Tirana City. The recorded images will serve to document the violence exercised by certain individuals, but also to ensure that police officers’ actions always comply with the legal framework, Demo reported.

As for masked persons, he said they have been identified and that all legal steps to place criminal responsibility will be taken. /tvklan

Source Layer: Dukeagini