FOURTEEN years have passed since four protesters were shot dead outside the Prime Minister’s office during a fiery anti-government rally in Tirana, and justice still hasn’t been served.
Aleks Nika, Ziver Veizi, Hekuran Deda, and Faik Myrtaj were killed on January 21, 2011, when police opened fire on crowds protesting against then-PM Sali Berisha.
In 2021, PM Edi Rama honoured the victims as “Martyrs of the Homeland.” Marking the anniversary this year, he said: “Justice delayed is not forgotten. The children of these martyrs are now parents, still waiting for justice.”
In 2023, Socialist official Taulant Balla pushed for the case of Aleks Nika’s killing to be sent to SPAK, the anti-corruption prosecutors. After years of delays, Albania’s Supreme Court ordered SPAK to investigate in March 2024.
What happened on January 21, 2011
Protesters clashed with police outside Berisha’s HQ, hurling rocks and trying to storm the compound. Shots were fired, leaving four dead.
Nika, gravely injured, was flown to Turkey for treatment but died days later. The opposition blamed Berisha and his interior minister, Lulzim Basha, for ordering the killings, but Berisha called the protest an attempted coup.
Fourteen years later, the wounds remain open, and justice is nowhere to be seen.
