Police Officers Gave Up Their Duties Before the Shootout

27 June 2022 – Tirana News Digest. Two police officers were placed under house arrest and six more were suspended by order of the court, more than one year after Pjerin Xhuvani, a local SP politician in Elbasan, was killed in armed clashes with supporters of the opposition Democratic Party. Prosecutors had determined that Albert Nushi and Nikollaq Palla, two high ranking officials, lied to the prosecutors in relation to the 21 March 2021 event when Xhuvani was killed by a supporter of the opposition who claimed he acted in self-defense. The event exposed the inability of police to control elements of organized crime acting as supporters of the Socialist Party, who obtained a high margin victory there. BIRN reported at that time that police and prosecutors ignored fraud evidence and failed to make arrests. [Read more: Link in English]