Trial for 3 police officials over fatal shootings at 2011 protest

TIRANA, May 23 – The former commander of an elite Albanian police unit and two more officers on Wednesday went on trial over the fatal shootings of four protesters at an anti-government protest last year. Ndrea Prendi and Agim Llupo, a former senior officer in the unit, have been charged with murder, while Prendi’s driver Margarit Kume allegedly concealed evidence. All three have been suspended from the Republican Guard, which protects senior Albanian officials and government buildings. The four protesters were shot in January 2011 during a mass opposition rally against alleged corruption and vote-rigging by Albania’s conservative government.
A highly placed government computer technician, Armando Kasaj, who has been charged with concealing evidence in the case, will be tried separately.
That was a first step which started Wednesday. The two main defendants immediately asked that some of the evidence be considered again and the judge pushed the next session for two weeks.
The Jan. 21, 2011 protest of the opposition and the way the Albanian judiciary will deal with that have always been mentioned by the international community, especially the European Union as a test of its steps toward integration into the bloc.