
Democratic Party MP, Gjin Gjoni, commented on the developments of the February 20 protest. He criticized the way the situation was managed by the authorities, considering this a challenge to the constitutional rights of citizens to protest without hindrance.
Gjoni said that the DP headquarters was attacked by police during the protest, emphasizing that these actions constitute a crime and that the police should be depoliticized and at the service of the security of citizens, not used to exert pressure on opposition supporters.
"Yesterday's case clearly shows that attacking the main headquarters of a democratic party when people are gathered inside the headquarters is a crime. It is a crime for a very simple reason: by provoking and behaving in this way, the police forces that should be depoliticized and be in defense of security and service in the community, are aggravating a situation of conflict between two major political forces."
"Because if the headquarters of the Democratic Party is attacked, the sympathizers of the Democratic Party can do the same and go and attack it. Moreover, today the state police is not a depoliticized police; it is filled with party militants, and cases show that this situation creates selectivity and unnecessary tension," he said.
Gjoni said that such behavior by the police increases tension between political forces and harms the constitutional right of citizens to protest. The MP said that some of the protesters, including minors and people who had no direct connection to the events, were escorted to the police station.
"According to the information we have, around 43 people were escorted yesterday. It turns out that some of them were released due to lack of evidence, but also because of the way they were escorted, which also included random people who were passing by on the street. Even yesterday, three people were brought into the police station who were delivering pizzas.
It is unacceptable, but on the other hand there are many minors accompanied. The last protest had about seven or eight people aged 14-17, and yesterday as well. I see a selectivity on the part of the police regarding the people they accompany; generally they target areas with a Democrat majority, in order to exert pressure and not allow them to come out to future protests.
In this specific case, I was present at police station three, and I see that many people are in detention without evidence. Imagine the people who were escorted from Lezha, the chairman of the DP of Kruja and people who were moving legally on the street – all of them were brought to the police station without cause. This clearly shows that the police are politicized and do not respect the legal frameworks,” he said.