Tuesday's violent events during the opposition protest and the intervention of the security forces against citizens and students have sparked fierce political debates in the Committee for Civic Initiatives. While the opposition has harshly accused the State Police of using brutal violence and suppressing the right to protest, the socialist majority chose to bring back the tragic events of January 21, trying to put into perspective the consequences of yesterday's violence against citizens.
The opposition representative, Ivi Kaso, strongly requested a change to the committee's agenda and an urgent call to the Minister of Interior to provide explanations for those who ordered violence against protesters, especially against young people and students.
"Today, Albania, Tirana has woken up wounded, because those who are the hope of this country and the emblem of our civilization, ours in particular, the students, have been wounded. Unfortunately, we have witnessed scenes that none of us would have wanted to see. They remind us of the student protests of the '90s. Even then, when a regime was overthrown, the violence exerted against students was not so savage, so gratuitous," Kaso declared.
He noted that the primary mission of the State Police is to protect the lives of citizens and not to maintain the "facades of a corrupt regime", demanding legal accountability from the minister to the last officer in the field.
Socialist MP Fatmir Xhafaj's response sparked a wave of reactions, due to the way he tried to justify and minimize police violence and the physical injuries of protesters. Instead of addressing concerns about broken legs, injuries, and violence against citizens and students, Xhafaj chose to shift attention to the death toll of January 21, 2011, setting an absurd standard where physical violence is justified as long as it does not result in a fatality.
According to this relativizing logic, today's physical injuries to protesters are presented as acceptable or "lighter", only because they are not compared to the loss of the lives of four innocent protesters years ago:
"I did not accept that 4 people were killed in a free civic protest. You have the right to protest, Bor, if you overstepped the mark, the police will respond," said Xhafaj, referring to the four killed on the boulevard: Aleks Nika, Ziver Veizi, Hekuran Deda and Faik Myrtaj.
Xhafaj claimed that the state's behavior has been correct and asked the opposition not to inspire attacks on institutions:
"There have been protests in Tirana for over 100 days and the behavior of the state and the police has been correct... Of course, I believe that, just as we must strongly defend the right and freedom of protest, the constitutional right of citizens, on the other hand, we must not defend and support violence against institutions, against the police."
Instead of the commission serving as a platform for institutional control over the State Police and guaranteeing human rights, the majority's stance revealed a problematic approach: using past tragedies as a political shield to justify present-day violations.
The attempt to balance the broken legs of today's protesters with the tragedy of January 21st diminishes the direct responsibility of the authorities to protect the physical integrity of every citizen, regardless of political affiliation or beliefs.
