Albania's opposition violently interrupt parliament session after lawmaker is sentenced to prison

TIRANA, Albania — 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.

Democrats shoved microphones off tables, hurled objects at the seats of the Parliament's speaker and government ministers and burned chairs, saying Ervin Salianji's prison sentence was politically motivated. They have also called for protests they say will block the capital, Tirana, starting next week.

In 2018, Salianji demanded the resignation of the Socialist Party’s then-governing interior minister Fatmir Xhafaj after a video circulated where two men claimed his brother was involved in illegal activities. The files and recordings they offered turned out to be fabricated and they have since fled the country.

Salianji was accused of slander and last week the appeals court confirmed his sentence of a year in prison. He has to petition the supreme court to appeal the verdict while in jail.

Parliament Speaker Elisa Spiropali of the left-wing ruling party said the burning of chairs was a sign of "disrespect of the citizens, the law and the institutions of the democratic state.”

Democrats' leader Sali Berisha, who is under house arrest on corruption charges, said the protest was the start of the opposition’s battle to reclaim power ahead of next year’s parliamentary election.

“Technical Cabinet. Free elections. Rotation. Opposition's victory,” Berisha said, citing his party's demands while speaking from his apartment's window in downtown Tirana where a small group of supporters gather every night.

The opposition has been harshly divided after Berisha and his family members were barred from entering the United States in 2021 and the United Kingdom in 2022 because of alleged involvement in corruption. The opposition lawmaker has denied the accusations repeatedly, saying Prime Minister Edi Rama was behind them, without providing evidence.

The Socialists have 73 lawmakers in the 140-member chamber and easily pass almost all draft laws.

Post-communist Albania has struggled to fight corruption, which has impeded the country’s democratic, economic and social development.

Albania has launched full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2020.