“They sprayed me with pepper and the ambulance never arrived,” says Luçiana Kokaj: Detainees were beaten in police vans and have black eyes

As participants were gathering in Skanderbeg Square for the 33rd anti-government protest, activist Luçiana Kokaj accused the police of unprofessional conduct and the use of violence against peaceful protesters.

She said that during the protest she happened to be in the front row and was speaking with police officers about the violence when, according to her, one of them pulled out a bottle of pepper spray and sprayed it toward the protesters. According to Kokaj, the effect was immediate.

The activist said she had not broken through the police cordon precisely to avoid provoking anyone, but that despite this, according to her, the blue uniforms took extremely violent action by using spray.

According to her statement, the police should have issued a warning beforehand, since women and children were also present at the protest. She added that after the incident they took her into a bar and left her alone there, while the ambulance never came to provide assistance. She said she was taken to the hospital by MP Erald Kapri.

Kokaj also stated that among those detained there are protesters who were beaten inside police vans and that some of them have black eyes.

She said the police provoked the violence and that their entire conduct was completely unprofessional. The activist further said that she is not paid by anyone and that the prime minister cannot call her a mercenary, because she has not received a single lek, adding that this, according to her, shows the level of our prime minister.

Kokaj went on to say that the prime minister owes her, because, according to her, he took her land in order to give it to the PD deputy.

She described this as a protest that has received international support and expressed the hope that the boys are well. According to her, there were also protesters who were kicked by police at the moment they tried to leave.