FLASH
Shkruar nga Kliti Topalli
From violence against a teenager in Vlora, to police officers sitting at tables with criminals and a prime minister surrounded by incompetents, where is Albania heading?
The event in Vlora brought together countless Albanians, showing solidarity with Aron, the waiter who was brutally raped by someone in uniform.
The coup against him is the clearest picture of a state that has lost its moral and institutional compass.
Aron, a 17-year-old who worked as a waiter to earn a living, was brutally beaten by a police officer because he had mixed up his order and brought an extra bottle of water to the table. Not only that, but Ardian Isufi, once the traffic chief in Vlora, turns out to have been sitting in the company of a person with a criminal record.
This is not the first case. From Sky ECC we have learned daily that a part of the Albanian police has direct links to crime, making deals with traffickers and being used as a shield for the dark world. Just a few weeks ago, citizens saw footage of police officers laying a young man on the ground just because he dared to photograph the moment when they were imposing unfair fines on cars. When a citizen is laid on the ground, when a working teenager is beaten, when a police officer sits with criminals, it is clear: the police do not protect the citizen, but have turned into a machine of violence and humiliation.
And when something like this happens, the chain of command shows its true face: the police director Ilir Proda, who for weeks has never come out with a serious stance, but seems to only know how to sleep, remembered to suspend the policeman only after the media furor. In the end, it was Edi Rama who gave the immediate order for dismissal. This shows a big problem: Albania no longer has functional institutions: there is only one person who decides on everything. Rama has turned into “Ali himself, Kadi himself”, while the ministers, directors and the chain of command are only formal, powerless and untimely figures.
This mentality of concentrating power in one person has produced institutions that do not function, do not react and have no sensitivity towards the citizen. And when a state does not function, when instead of protecting the citizen, he is violated, when justice depends on the moods of the prime minister, then it is no wonder that young people want to leave.
What makes it more tragic is that it took Rama's stance to fill Facebook profiles with reactions from ministers, MPs or other officials condemning the violence. Where were they before? Where are the MPs of the area, since the problem should be prevented and not taken to action. Where is the Minister of Interior, since he should have reacted first? The former Minister of Interior reacted and Hoxha did not say a word. Ilir Proda no, no. So we have a prime minister surrounded by incompetents, but also hypocrites.
To return to Aron, he is a typical example of young people who have not chosen the easy path of emigration, but have chosen to work and get an education here. But now the state itself is violating them.
This is a dangerous message for the entire new generation: that you have no value as a worker, as a student, or as a citizen. And as long as the state violates, citizens have no choice but to flee. Albania is not emptying out just because of the weak economy, but because it has become a country where fear and insecurity reign, even fueled by those who should be the protectors of the law. In short, the foundations of autocracy are being laid. / Pamphlet
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