Fatmir

Albanian opposition lawmakers violently disrupted a Parliament session Monday to protest the imprisonment of a fellow legislator for alleged slander.

The conservative Democratic Party of Albania has long accused the ruling Socialist Party of usurping all the powers, including the judiciary, and staged violent protests against the government since 2013.

Those charged included Albania's defence minister from 2005 to 2008, Fatmir Mediu, other senior defence ministry officials and members of the army's top brass. 

Initially filed with the Supreme Court, the case, apart from Mediu's, was then separated and sent to the Tirana District Court. 

An Albanian man by his destroyed house in the village of Gerdec, March 2008. Photo: EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

A man whose case for compensation for the ammunition explosion that claimed 26 lives in March 2008 was not heard by the Albanian courts was awarded 7,500 euros in damages by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

The Special Court of Appeals Against Corruption and Organised Crime ruled on Friday that the case against Fatmir Mediu, who was defence minister in 2008 when an ammunition dump explosion killed 26 people, should be reopened.

The blast happened while ammunition from the period of Communist rule in Albania was being dismantled.

The initiative was signed by the President of the National Council of Albanians Ragmi Mustafa, Bujanovac Mayor Shaip Kamberi and member of the Serbian Assembly from that municipality Fatmir Hasani, RTS is reporting.

An appeals court upheld the verdict acquitting former Kosovo Liberation Army commander Fatmir Limaj, who is now deputy prime minister, clearing him of responsibility for the murders of two ethnic Albanian civilians in 1998.

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed the resignation of Albanian Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj on Saturday, naming his security advisor Aleksander Lleshi, a former General in the Albanian Army, as the new nominee for the post.

According to reports in Albanian language media, the Tirana air traffic control directed Behgjet Pacolli's private plane used by the delegation to the airspace of the Serb entity (RS) in Bosnia-Herzegovina - that is "controlled by relevant Serb services."

Thousands of Albanian opposition supporters rallied in the capital Tirana on May 26 calling for the resignation of interior minister Fatmir Xhafaj, whose brother has been convicted of drug trafficking.

Thousands of Albanians joined the anti-government protests held on Saturday in Albanian capital of Tirana, demanding resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama and Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj over alleged role in drug smuggling.

Protesters threw stones at the main government buildings. According to the police, 11 people were injured, mostly police officers.