Shkëlzen Bushi after being taken in by police: The protest has the support of 80% of Albanians, they want blood

Shkëlzen Bushi, one of the protesters who was taken in by police after the previous day’s gathering in front of Parliament, has given his version of events. He said the protest had started peacefully, but the situation later deteriorated into violence and intervention by law enforcement.

During an interview on News24, Bushi said that, in his view, around 80% of Albanians support the protest, while he described the rest as “patronage operatives.”

Referring to the clashes with police officers, he claimed that the violence against the protesters, although not desired, in some way gave the protest more weight.

“The violence unintentionally worked in our favor. Unless someone was sacrificed, this protest would not have taken on its deeper meaning. Six people were sacrificed there. They want blood. If they want blood, then let one or two lives be sacrificed. We had not discussed anything in advance,” Bushi said.

He said that the protest had initially been intended to include symbolic gestures, such as throwing eggs and flour at the Parliament building, to express opposition to the lawmakers.

“We were waiting for the deputies to come out of Parliament so we could hit them with eggs and flour, as a symbolic message to show them that we do not agree with what they are doing. Meanwhile, throughout that time, police forces kept increasing and the security cordon kept tightening,” he said.

According to Bushi’s account, at one point some protesters approached the entrance to Parliament and clashed with police. He said that, together with other people, he tried to create a human cordon between the two sides to prevent escalation.

Bushi also raised suspicions that infiltrators may have been present at the protest with the aim of provoking incidents.

“We do not know who was there. There may also have been people who entered among the protesters solely to provoke the situation,” he said.

He insisted that his intervention was intended to separate the protesters from the police in order to avoid physical clashes, but claimed that he was then beaten and arrested.

“I went to separate them so there would be no bloodshed. At that moment a police officer hit me, then they grabbed me by the hair, pulled me inside the cordon and beat me on the ground,” Bushi said.

After being taken in, Bushi said he remained at the police station for about five hours. He stressed that he does not feel afraid, while his main concern is that protesters should not be intimidated and should not give up taking part in future gatherings.