In the final days of September, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that a mobile phone should no longer be considered an open gateway for the state into individuals’ private lives.
He described the device as “the archive of a person’s life” and pledged new legal safeguards to protect it from arbitrary interference.
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Just three weeks after that statement, as law enforcement forces struggled to keep unrest under control during anti-government protests, several detained young people, including minors, said that police officers had asked them to unlock their phones and reveal their personal content, without having a court warrant.
These testimonies, conveyed by the Ombudsperson, have raised questions about the legality of the police’s conduct and exposed the contrast between the government’s promises to protect privacy—promises it seeks to codify into law, which critics say are intended to protect senior officials under investigation by SPAK—and the authorities’ actual conduct toward citizens on the ground.
Footage published on social media platforms during the latest protests in the capital shows police officers confiscating the phones of detained individuals, raising questions about the legal basis for these actions and the extent of police powers.
These events have taken place against a backdrop of criticism over the excessive use of force against protesters, including adolescents, as well as over the way police carry out arrests.
The fact that protesters were asked to unlock their devices without clear legal authorization raises the question of whether law enforcement forces acted within the powers granted to them by law.
In a Tuesday report on police respect for human rights during demonstrations, the Ombudsperson announced that one of the alleged violations concerned precisely attempts to check the phones of detained individuals.
“Some minors and adults said they had been asked to unlock their phones and allow their personal data to be examined, without a court decision, and even in the absence of any charge from the prosecution,” said Ahmet Prençi, commissioner and head of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture.
The institution emphasizes that the right to private life and correspondence is protected under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that any interference with this right must be based on law and be necessary and proportionate.
Criminal legislation also sets conditions for the inspection and seizure of electronic data, establishing limits on how authorities may access the contents of personal devices.
The legality of such an action depends on the specific circumstances, the powers of the body conducting the proceedings and the authorizations required by law. In the absence of these conditions, the inspection may be considered an unlawful interference with private life.
Civil society representatives warn that police checks of protesters’ phones without proper legal authorization may constitute an invasion of privacy and a violation of criminal procedures.
Lawyer Gent Serjani, who heads the Center for Social Justice, emphasizes that the legality of these actions depends on their legal basis and compliance with procedures.
“Taking a phone and examining the photographs, videos or other private content stored on it, without the relevant legal authorization and without following the procedures provided for by the legislation in force, may be considered an unlawful interference with private life,” he told BIRN, adding that the legality of these actions must be assessed based on the specific circumstances, the legal powers of the bodies conducting the proceedings and the authorizations required by law.
According to Serjani, the protection of private life and personal data is guaranteed by Albanian legislation and international human rights instruments.
“For this reason, any interference by public authorities with this right must have a legal basis, pursue a legitimate aim and comply with the principle of proportionality,” he stressed.
For Rigels Xhemollari of the Qëndresa Qytetare center, these actions constitute a flagrant overstepping of police powers and an issue requiring investigation by the prosecution and accountability for the actions carried out.
“This is a violation of criminal procedure and there must be a chain investigation by the prosecution, because the police exceeded their powers without a court decision,” he said.
“The police have gone beyond the framework of the law, are operating on political orders, and only through court decisions and punitive examples can they return to the rule of law,” Xhemollari concluded.
