Daniel Nikolla

RAMA AND HIS GOVERNMENT: RESIGN NOW! No government has the right to deploy private thugs against its own people. Government authorisation does not turn violence into lawful conduct. One example is the abuse denounced in the linked video: men hired by the government, wearing civilian clothes and no visible identification, beating Albanian citizens in the vicinity of a police operation. Watch the video: facebook.com/share/r/1CV8GeP… The legal provisions applicable to the conduct described are clear: Article 90 of the Albanian Criminal Code covers beatings and other intentional acts of violence; Articles 88 and 89 address intentional injuries according to their consequences. Article 261 criminalises obstruction of freedom of expression, assembly and protest, with increased penalties where physical violence is used. The involvement of private personnel confers no special powers. On 2 June 2026, Albania’s Ombudsman expressly stated that public security and the protection of the right to demonstrate are responsibilities of the state that must not be entrusted to a private police force. We demand the immediate resignation of the entire Rama government. Resignation is no substitute for criminal proceedings. Articles 25 to 27 of the Criminal Code cover organisers, instigators and accomplices as well as the direct perpetrators. Article 250 penalises arbitrary official acts and orders that infringe citizens’ liberty. Anyone who organises, orders or assists such assaults must answer for their own contribution to the offences. We demand the arrest of those bearing political responsibility who were personally involved, including Rama and Balla, as soon as the requisite grounds for suspicion and the statutory grounds for detention are established. Political power must neither obstruct investigations nor shield anyone from criminal consequences. Albania’s obligations are unequivocal: Articles 25 and 47 of its Constitution, Articles 3 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Articles 7 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protect against ill-treatment and guarantee peaceful assembly. Article 16 of the UN Convention against Torture further requires the state to prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment instigated, consented to or acquiesced in by public officials. Hiring private perpetrators of violence does not release the state from these obligations. It is time for Albanian women and men throughout the country to take to the streets peacefully, resolutely and in unmistakable numbers, demanding an end to this abuse of power. To Albania’s police officers: your loyalty is owed to the law and your fellow citizens. Refuse unlawful orders to use violence. Protect the public. Anyone who recognises that they are serving the Rama clan rather than the state should hand their helmet symbolically to civil society and cease all participation in abuses. Brussels and Berlin must also account for their assessments. Article 2 of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Albania makes democracy, human rights and the rule of law essential elements of the agreement. How were the positive progress reports produced? Which facts were examined, and which warnings were taken into account? Who bears responsibility for the conclusions? Albania’s citizens are not fair game. The perpetrators and those who commissioned them must answer before the courts — all the way to the highest levels of government.