80 Charged as Albania Protests Enter Fifth Day of Clashes

Riot police and anti-government demonstrators clashed in central Tirana for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday, with 80 people charged with disorder and hundreds more arrested or under investigation, the BBC reported from the scene.

The unrest, which began in early June, has stretched 135 days by protesters' own count before escalating into what one 19-year-old demonstrator described to the BBC as an attempt to "make a revolution." Saturday's violence centered first on the education ministry and then shifted in the afternoon to the office of Prime Minister Edi Rama on Tirana's main boulevard, according to the BBC.

Why are Albanians protesting for a fifth straight day?

The demonstrations began in the summer as a narrower movement and have widened into a broader anti-government campaign, with demonstrators calling for Rama to resign over corruption allegations tied to his administration, the BBC reported. George, a 19-year-old medical student who works as an electrician, told the BBC near the burnt-out education ministry building: "We were peaceful for 135 days. Now we are trying to do like in France… we are trying to make a revolution. Our government doesn't want peace, so we are using violence."

Klea, a 17-year-old first-year university student, told the BBC that students have abandoned classes entirely: "All the students are boycotting their university classes and left school to fight for our rights." She also alleged, per the BBC, that provocateurs embedded among the protesters have smashed stores and banks to discredit the movement — a claim the BBC did not independently verify.

How many people have been arrested or charged so far?

As of Saturday, 80 people had been charged with disorder, with hundreds more arrested or placed under investigation, according to the BBC's reporting from Tirana. The BBC did not provide a breakdown by date across the five days of unrest, and no injury tally for police or protesters was given beyond the BBC's observation that "many people have been injured on both sides."

What tactics are police and protesters using against each other?

Masked demonstrators — described by the BBC as predominantly high school and university students — threw rocks, cobblestones, fireworks and petrol bombs at riot police defending the education ministry and, later, the prime minister's office. Riot police answered with water cannon and repeated volleys of tear gas, according to the BBC, which also reported what it called the first use of rubber bullets during the five-day span.

Volunteers distributed syringes of saline eyewash along the protest route to counter the tear gas, the BBC reported, and some canisters landed deep in the crowd, causing panic before demonstrators regrouped once the gas cleared. A burning vehicle sent black smoke over the boulevard as police sirens and ambulance sirens sounded through the afternoon, per the BBC's account. By dusk, Albanian special forces had arrived to reinforce the riot police line, the BBC said.

Where is Prime Minister Edi Rama amid the unrest?

The BBC reported that the focus of Saturday's protest activity moved during the afternoon to Rama's office on Tirana's main boulevard, where crowds grew far larger than on the four previous days of unrest. The report did not state Rama's location or whether he has responded publicly to the demonstrators' call for his resignation.

What does the scene in Tirana look like after five days of clashes?

The BBC described central Tirana as resembling "a war zone," with streets scattered with broken glass and burnt debris. Klodi, 21, and Klea, 17, were among the young protesters the BBC spoke with on the boulevard Saturday as running battles continued through the day. HTT News' own ground coverage, filed the same day, further detailed the fifth day of rioting in the capital, available at Tirana Riots Enter Fifth Day Amid Albania Protests.

What happens next for the protest movement?

The BBC's reporting does not indicate any scheduled negotiations between the government and protest organizers, nor a stated timeline for when the daily clashes might end. With 80 people already facing disorder charges and hundreds more under arrest or investigation after just five days, according to the BBC, the scale of legal fallout is likely to grow if the nightly confrontations in Tirana continue at their current pace. Neither the BBC nor HTT's related coverage reported any statement from Rama's government on potential policy responses to the corruption allegations driving the unrest.

Full BBC reporting and video from Tirana is available at BBC News.