Arrests In Albania Over Massive Opposition Protest

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Police in Albania’s capital Tirana have arrested at least five people who took part in one of the country’s largest opposition protests in recent years. The protesters called for the resignation of the government, fresh elections and an end to “mafia-style corruption”. The detentions on Wednesday came a day after protesters took to the streets to accuse the government of launching fresh reforms that they said would take a deeper financial toll on the poor.

The opposition demonstrators said the measures were billowing the pockets of the country’s political and social elites, while the Balkan nation already suffers from prevalent poverty. The last major anti-government demonstration in Tirana occurred in January of 2011, which ended after troops shot dead four protesters.

Redi Muci, a leading activist of the city’s growing university movement that opposes the government, told Al Jazeera that a heavy crackdown on tax evaders and citizens who avoided paying energy bills has “only targeted low-income businesses and individuals, leaving the oligarchs of the country untouched”. Muci, a lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Tirana, also criticised new reforms of the education system – including the plan to fund private universities with public funds – which he said would lead to a major hike in tuition fees.

Aljazeera.