Albania Judges Warned Police of Threats Before Fatal Court Shooting

Photo illustration: EPA-EFE/MALTON DIBRA. Albanian authorities had been warned that court officials were facing rising threats of violence and wanted more security before the murder of a judge on Monday inside one of the country’s highest courts, BIRN can reveal. Albania’s authorities are investigating how a gun was smuggled into Tirana’s Court of Appeal in order to shoot and kill a judge during a trial on Monday. The shooting of judge Astrit Kalaja and two others, a father and son who were wounded, took place during a court hearing over a property dispute. Police said they have arrested a 30-year-old suspect named by Albanian media as Elvis Shkembi.   But questions have been raised about court security and why warnings over threats against judges across the court system have been ignored.  A judge working in other courts in Albania told BIRN on condition of anonymity that despite reporting previous threats addressed to them at court, the authorities failed to strengthen security.  According to the judge, the High Judicial Council, which oversees courts, has held several meetings with the police about threats of violence at courts around the country, but security measures have not increased. A Court of Appeal source BIRN spoke to said that when the suspect passed through a metal detector, it gave a signal, but nevertheless, he was allowed to enter the court premises. A statement released by Tirana Police on Tuesday morning confirmed this: “The presence of metals was signaled on the detector screen by the turning on of red lights, but citizen B. K., on duty as a security officer at the Tirana Court of Appeal, remained seated in a chair and did not perform any physical check of these citizens or register them in the protocol book, where all persons entering and exiting the Court premises must be recorded.” The investigation into the murder and the failure of court security is being conducted by the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK). The security officer mentioned by police has been arrested, according to media reports. Sources from the Court of Appeal told BIRN that checks on those entering are normally carried out by a member of court staff and a police officer. A metal detector is also at their disposal.  However, Interior Minister Albana Kociu said in a press release that the police were not responsible for security inside the buildings. “According to the law, they have no responsibility for controlling entry and exit and security within court buildings,” Kociu said.  Lutfi Dervishi, a political analyst based in Tirana, said that the killing of the judge represented “an institutional failure”. “The murder of a judge inside a courtroom was not simply a criminal act, but a display of institutional failure and, worse, moral collapse,” Dervishi wrote on Facebook.