Monthly report

Present situation
After the election of June 30th, the climate did not produce any particular clash or unrest. However, some protest marches in Tirana occured and controversies over some cases of vote rigging occupied the front pages of newspapers for days.
In July the volunteers monitored and recorded the evolution of some cases of murder due to blood feud reasons. In the first part of the month, in fact, a man was arrested because, in 2013, committed a murder to avenge the death of his brother, who was killed in prison in 1992. In the same days, the local media also announced some updates that reconstructed a murder happened in 2017 for reasons of honor, aggravating the penal situation of the culprit of this crime.
At the end of July, Lulzim Caka, known in the news as the “terrible of Berat” since he was the head of a criminal gang during the 1990s, was released ahead of time from prison. The story of his release is still unclear and caused quite a stir; the gesture was condemned by Etilda Gjonaj, the Minister of Justice, who revoked his release from prison and investigated the prison director, who was later arrested with a collaborator. In 1999 Caka was also the author of a double honor murder to avenge the death of his mother, killed in the area of Fier. Caka is still at large. (more…)

Present situation
In June, Albania experienced a period of strong institutional instability. The election campaign, in view of the local elections of June 30, has taken on harsh tones, so much so as to provoke a boycott of the electoral process in the main opposition party. As a result, in the middle of the month the President of the Republic decided to cancel the elections, moving the date to October 13th. Instead, the Prime Minister has decided to respond to this act by maintaining the date of the elections for June 30th. In the absence of the Constitutional Court, the only body delegated to settle these disputes, the elections were actually held on June 30th, with a total absence of the candidates of the opposition party, who withdrew from the competition as a gesture of protest. However, the international observers have tried to guarantee a correct voting process. The institutional crisis in any case is serious and risks jeopardizing the future opening of negotiations for the entry of the Country into the European Union.
Earlier this month, an administrator from the Selenicë area (Vlora) was killed while trying to quell a brawl between two cousins for ownership’s reasons. Reporting the news, the local media referred to a sort of “property curse”, since even the one who had previously held the same position as the victim had been killed 7 months earlier for the same reasons.
In mid-month, during the usual annual pilgrimage that many Albanians make to reach the sanctuary of Saint Anthony in Laç, two young men quarrelled because of the parking, and one of the two boys shot the other one, killing him. (more…)

Present situation
At the end of May a man was arrested in the mountains, convicted of avenging in 2012 the murder of his parents, killed by a neighbor in 2003 because of a dispute over the ownership of a stream. The arrested man had acted with his sister, who initially declared herself to be the only one responsible for the crime. The girl, at the time of the arrest, had stated that she had waited 9 years for State justice to take its course, but then, full of pain and resentment, she had chosen to resort to private justice, killing the brother of the responsible of her parents’ murder. The latter, on the other hand, is still at large.
Finally, the only indicted of Mario Majollari‘s murder was released for lack of evidence. Operazione Colomba expresses concern because, as the case reported here above, when State justice is not efficient, victims can resort to forms of private justice that often turn into blood feud’s episodes. (more…)

Present situation
During the month of April, we recorded some cases of injuries due to blood feud phenomenon. In the middle of the month, a village chief was injured because of a previous property-related conflict. The dynamics of the episode shows the abuse of the Kanun and the misuse of its practice. Indeed, the man was hit by a few gunshots while he was on the balcony of his house, although the domestic dwelling is a traditionally sacred place, where taking revenge is forbidden. Furthermore, in April, a man, who had arguments over property issues in the past, was injured. His wife said she is very scared and in danger because her family had previously been threatened and attacked. (more…)

Present situation
Around the 15th of March, the newspapers reported about a trial in which are involved three young people investigated for the murder of a boy, occurred in 2017. The victim’s parents declared that “if the judicial system is not going to work, then the Kanun will work”; furthermore, they affirmed that they are not asking for money because it is impossible to find the price for their son’s life, “we will not restore our son’s value through money”. Among the Albanian population the distrust in the judicial system is still relevant and often people can be more confident in private justice.
In the same period, a 26-year-old man, probably known and involved in the organized crime, was killed in front of his house. Even if the investigations are still going on, is almost certainly a blood feud’s case caused by another murder for which the victim had been investigated and found innocent in 2017.
At the end of the month, a man found explosives under his car; his brother was killed ten years ago and this failed attack is probably due to a conflict situation that has been affecting his family for years. (more…)