Tirana Police and family clash over allegations of detainee mistreatment

Conflicting accounts have emerged regarding the treatment of individuals detained during recent student protests in Tirana, Albania.

Aurel Lutaj, the father of a 15-year-old student, has accused police officers of physical abuse and neglect. Lutaj claims that six officers assaulted his son at a police station and held him without food or water for 11 hours. He maintains that the teenager was participating peacefully in the protest and was not violent or attempting to evade authorities.

In response, the Tirana Police Department issued a statement addressing social media allegations. The police denied claims that civilians were forcibly detaining a woman, clarifying that the individual in question was a male suspected of leading protesters and attacking officers with metal chains. The police also denied using metal cables, asserting that such items were actually seized from masked individuals intended to attack protesters. The department stated that no officers have resigned and that all actions taken were part of standard procedures to identify those involved in counter-protest violence.