Through an article published on September 17 by the Russian media "Sputnik" in Serbian, it is claimed that "riots" have occurred in Tirana due to the verdict against former KLA leaders.
The article is titled "Riots in Tirana due to the verdict against the leaders of the so-called KLA: Albania came out on the side of Pristina.
The article claims that the Albanian Parliament members approved a statement regarding the verdict of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selim and Jakup Krasniqi.
Further, it is alleged that clashes occurred "near parliament" between police and protesters, who, according to the article, had gathered in protest "against the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama and against the decision of the Special Court in The Hague" against former KLA leaders.
The same article was later published by the Serbian media outlet "Vaseljenska.net".
What's wrong with the claim?
After online research conducted by hibrid.info, it was confirmed that media reports in Albania indicate that the September 17 protest in Tirana was part of a series of anti-government protests that had begun about 110 days earlier and the main demand of the protesters was the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Media reporting in Albania
The online outlet Reporter.al reported that hundreds of citizens gathered near the Parliament and the Ministry of Interior, demanding Rama's resignation. According to this report, the protesters threw eggs and toilet paper at the police, while tensions escalated when some of them tried to cross the police cordon and the metal fence. Later, there were clashes when some of the protesters headed towards the Prime Minister's Office (see here).
BalkanWeb also reported that protesters gathered in front of the Parliament were calling out against the political class and demanding the resignation of Edi Rama (see here).
Shqiptarja.com's reporting also describes that the September 17 protest began in front of the Parliament and then moved to other areas of Tirana. According to this medium, the first tensions with the police began when the protesters attempted to cross the police cordon near the Ministry of Interior, after which eggs and water bottles were thrown at the officers (see here).
So, the clashes with the police on September 17 are linked in Albanian media reports to the anti-government protest and the protesters' attempts to break through police barriers, while there is no evidence in these reports that the clashes were caused by opposition to the Hague verdict.
What about the decision against former KLA leaders?
It is true that on September 17, the Albanian Parliament adopted a statement regarding the verdict against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selim and Jakup Krasniqi. In the statement, the Parliament expressed disagreement with the decision and stated that it would coordinate actions with the Kosovo institutions.
BalkanWeb also reported that the Speaker of the Parliament, Niko Peleshi, read the statement in support of the KLA and its former members (see here).
However, this was a separate event from the anti-government protests outside the Parliament. In fact, reports of the September 17 protest indicate that it was announced as a protest against the political class and that the protesters were demanding Rama's resignation.
Meanwhile, on September 16, the day the verdict against the former KLA leaders was announced, the citizens' protest in Tirana also showed solidarity with them. Euronews Albania reported that the 109th protest coincided with the announcement of the verdict in The Hague and that protesters chanted “KLA, KLA” during the march to the Prime Minister’s Office (see here).
The facts show that on September 17, there were clashes between protesters and police in Tirana, but these clashes occurred during an anti-government protest that had been going on for about 110 days. Therefore, media sources in Albania do not support the Russian media's claim that the clashes with the police were caused by the verdict against the former KLA leaders.
Analyze
The claim of "riots in Tirana" was published by Sputnik in Serbian, where clashes between protesters and police are presented as being related to the verdict against former KLA leaders.
However, Albanian media reports on the September 17 protest provide a different context. The protesters were demanding the resignation of Edi Rama and protesting against the government, while clashes with the police began during attempts to cross the police cordon.
Meanwhile, the verdict against the former KLA leaders and the statement by the Albanian Parliament were developments of the same period, but the media in Albania do not present the verdict as the cause of the clashes with the police.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses the "Sputnik" article as "Disinformation".
rationale
"Disinformation" is defined as information content that contains a "mix" of inaccurate sources or even half-truthful attributes, and that is created and/or distributed with the deliberate intention of causing harm. The motive behind the producers/distributors of disinformation content lies in achieving a political, financial, psychological or social goal.