Klevi Metaj, a student at the University of Tirana, has become the central and most talked-about figure of the student protest, after violent tensions with police forces during Tuesday evening.
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He is the son of Brikena Metaj, who works as a News24 correspondent in Gjirokastër.
In videos shared from the protest, the young man is seen moving on the sidewalk until a police officer strikes him. Immediately afterwards, he becomes involved in a physical confrontation with six officers of the Rapid Intervention Force (FNSH), who were carrying rubber batons.
Later footage shows Metaj facing several police officers, while photos later emerged showing him handcuffed near the ministry’s railings. In other recordings, the student appears with clear signs of violence inside a police van.
The incident has triggered a wave of reactions on social media platforms, where users are seeing the student as the embodiment of a young person fighting for his right while clashing with the police force.
The phrase “Law student in search of justice” has become the most used description of his case.
Clashes erupted during the students’ protest against the executive, which was marked by tensions and police intervention. The full circumstances of the event and responsibility for the reported violence against protesters remain to be clarified.
