Symbolic imageAlbanian protests spread beyond Tirana as injuries mount
Four days of protests in Albania have left 156 people injured, the interior minister says. Koha reports that the municipal building in Shkodër was set on fire.
Interior Minister Ervin Demo said on Friday, 16 October, that the injured include 97 police officers, 45 protesters and 12 passersby, among them four minors. He accused the organisers of using violence for political confrontation and said very few students are among those arrested and prosecuted. Koha's headline puts arrests at more than 150 over the four days and reports that 56 protesters were detained a day earlier, 16 of them minors. Demo warned that the unrest should not endanger Albania's path to the European Union.
Shkodër building attacked
Koha reports that the municipal building in Shkodër was set on fire, with Molotov cocktails reportedly used.
Rama stays, critics demand talks
According to Koha headlines, Prime Minister Edi Rama said the events are no coincidence and that the "hostage-taking" of the city has nothing to do with citizens' problems. The politicians Mejdini and Spiropali urged him to offer a political solution.
Hospital figures and suspended officers
Tirana's University Hospital Center said 11 people, three of them minors, sought treatment after Friday's protest, as of 18:45: six protesters, three police and two passersby. Koha also reports that two police officers were suspended for violence against protesters.