TIRANA, Oct. 3 – Students and parents’ protest in Elbasan’s Mengel village on Tuesday demanding a new school after an earthquake demolished it last year was accompanied by physical clashes with the police, according to local media reporting from the ground.
The protest began on Monday around noon and continued throughout the day, with reports that children’s physical state worsened as the protest carried on, due to not eating, tiredness and alleged physical clashes with the police.
The protesters – both children and parents – sat in the middle of the street and blocked the entire Elbasan-Librazhd highway, creating a heavy traffic of about five kilometers of cars that could not pass through.
Protest images and videos broadcasted by media in Albania showed crying children, while a couple of them even had blood on their faces and slight injuries.
In context of the protests, local media reported on Thursday a government announcement that reconstruction for the school will begin as soon as possible.
Democratic Party MP Luciano Boci also attended the protest while the State Police, through an announcement, said it had informed Boci that the protest was illegal, as well as asked him to move.
“State Police called on representatives of the illegal protest and the lawmaker of the Democratic Party political subject Luciano Boci to free the way, but without results for a relatively long time. Some of the adult protesters, misused by political subjects to stand behind the illegal rally, provoked and acted violently towards the police, which proceeded the necessary materials against them to the prosecution,” the police announcement read.
The announcement also informed one 25-year-old citizen with the initials K.Gj. was accompanied to police headquarters for violently opposing police forces.
“The Elbasan police, taking advantage of the case, responsibly declares that the child, whose images have been broadcast by a number of media claiming he was violated by police forces, has not been harmed in any moment by the police. The police calls on the area’s citizens not to use their children for rushed protests in order to avoid the increased danger or any incidents that may occur,” the announcement concludes.
According to the specialists, the school needs to be rebuilt its structures as it risks collapsing.
In such a situation students have been provided free transportation to city schools, but about 200 students have boycotted the government’s plan.
