FLASH
Shkruar nga Flamur Vezaj
How is it possible that someone takes a gun and shoots the judge?
Albanian society is facing a bitter reality: the loss of faith in justice.
Years of judicial delays, endless injustices, corruption at every level, and lack of institutional accountability have created a climate of despair and revolt, which today has erupted in its most extreme form, violence against the judges themselves.
When a citizen waits for years for a decision, when every door of justice seems closed to him and the state appears deaf, he loses faith and feels that he has no one to turn to. But even though the system has failed in many ways, no disappointment, no injustice, can justify the grave act of an armed hand against a man who represents the law.
A shocking event occurred today at the Court of Appeals, where Judge Astrit Kalaja tragically lost his life after being shot in the courtroom corridor.
Judge Kalaja had been in office since 2003, serving over 22 years in the Albanian justice system. The suspected perpetrator, Elvis Shkambi, a party to the property case, was arrested by police immediately after the incident.
This is a serious, but also preventable event. How is it possible for a person to enter a courtroom armed?
Where was the security check?
Was the metal detector working or are we dealing with negligence on the part of security personnel?
The control system has completely failed.
Not only the perpetrator of the crime, but also those who have the duty to protect the institutions of justice must be held responsible for this.
But the big question is: how did we get here?
How is it possible that someone takes a gun and shoots the judge?
This is a consequence of the dysfunction of justice, especially in property issues. Since the 1990s, no government has definitively solved the property problem. Files drag on for decades, owners wander through the courts, while decisions are postponed endlessly. The case of Elvis Shkambi is just one example, out of thousands of others that drag on endlessly and where citizens wait dozens of years for a court decision.
But be careful! Delaying justice never justifies murder! No injustice, no delay, can be used as a reason to take the life of a human being, much less a judge in the exercise of his duties. Self-justification is a sign of the failure of the state, not of the courage of the citizen.
The justice reform, instead of bringing efficiency, has created an institutional vacuum. Hundreds of judges have been dismissed, but their positions have not been replaced. Files have piled up, processes drag on, and people wait for years for a decision that never comes.
The language of politics has also contributed to this dangerous climate. The Prime Minister himself has often used insulting tones towards judges and prosecutors, as he once did in 2013, when his ministers went to the media to publicly accuse them.
On the other hand, Sali Berisha, with his rhetoric against SPAK, has taken the conflict even further.
This has fostered a climate of hatred towards justice. Until yesterday, self-justification was directed towards the other party in the process, today, it is directed towards the justice system itself. And this is unacceptable and dangerous.
Now, as usual, we will see parades with cameras: police directors, prosecutors and officials declaring “we are investigating”. Several security officers will be arrested, the perpetrator will be punished, but nothing essential will change. Citizens will continue to wait in line for justice. Because the problem is not just a weapon that passes inspection, but a system that has lost trust and function.
And this is not the first time. In April 2024, a person attempted to stab Judge Bajramaj in Lushnje; in 2016, another attempted to stab a prosecutor in the same court; in 2013, Judge Mirela Mishgjoni in Vlora was attacked with acid; while in Fier, an elderly man shot at the judge in a divorce case.
There are dozens of threats, insults and attempts every year. Today, unfortunately, murder in the courtroom has become a reality, a national alarm for the rule of law.
Justice cannot function with fear. Judges cannot work under threat, and citizens cannot live with the feeling that justice depends on the nerves of a desperate man.
If this event does not serve as a basis for deep institutional reflection, then our system has ultimately failed.
Thank you and condolences to the family of Judge Kalaja and the entire judicial body for this loss.
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