Stop Violence in Albania: end the political crisis. Make the Albanian people count!

[English version] We, the undersigned, express our deepest indignation regarding the events of January 21,, 2011 in Tirana, Albania, and refuse to accept that in this country the state police can use such brutal and disproportionate violence against unarmed protesters. On January 21, 2011, three innocent people lost their lives as a result of gunshots from state police and tens of others were injured and left in critical conditions, only because they were part of a demonstration for real democracy in their country. Several journalists, children and elderly were also chased and assaulted brutally by police with truncheons, even though their participation in the demonstration was entirely peaceful. The extreme violence used by the police and the National Guard and the terror caused to control the situation is totally unprofessional, unacceptable and intolerable. The cause of the protest were and remain the lack of transparency by the current government about the last general election in Albania, and the massive official corruption at the highest levels that has gripped the country: two factors responsible for the extended political and economic crisis Albanians face today. When the negotiations between political parties failed one after the other, when the possible compromises for resolving the crisis have been intentionally and consistently avoided by the current government to keep in power at any cost, the people have only one alternative: the protest. We believe that every free people has the right to express its disappointment at its own government, every free people has the right to be protected and not assaulted by its own police, that every people in democracy has the right to aspire more dignity and prosperity independently of their political affiliations. We call on the President of Albania, Mr. Bamir Topi, we appeal to the foreign diplomatic corpus in Tirana and to the representatives of EU and other international organizations in Albania: - to make a clear stand against the violence perpetrated by Albanian police on January 21, 2011 - to encourage the investigation of the 3 murders by gunshots and the course of justice - to evaluate objectively the role and responsibility of the current government and its prime minster Berisha in the escalation of this crisis - to engage positively and concretely in assisting the concerns of the Albanian protesters and Albanian opposition against authoritarianism, corruption, poverty, and unemployment that are increasingly ruining this country each day, in order that also the Albanian people can know the real democracy, the democracy of free speech, of free vote, that of participation by everybody, the democracy of transparency and justice for everybody. Sincerely ______________________________________________________________________ [Albanian version] Ne, nenshkruesit e ketij peticioni, shprehim indinjaten e thelle per ngjarjet e 21 janarit 2011 ne Tirane dhe refuzojme te pranojme se në Shqipëri policia e shtetit mund te perdore dhune kaq brutale dhe te disproporcionuar kunder protestuesve civile te paarmatosur. Ne 21 Janar 2011 tre persona te pafajshem humben jeten si pasoje e perdorimit te armeve te zjarrit nga policia dhe me dhjetera te tjere u plagosen rende dhe ndodhen ne gjendje kritike per jeten, vetem sepse ishin pjese e nje proteste per demokraci te vertete ne vendin e tyre. Dhjetera gazetare, femije e te moshuar u goditen brutalisht me shkopinj gome nga policia edhe pse pjesemarrja e tyre ishte krejtesisht paqesore ne manifestim. Dhuna ekstreme e perdorur nga policia dhe terrori i shkaktuar per te kontrolluar situaten jane krejtesisht joprofesionale, krejtesisht te pajustifikueshem dhe te patolerueshem. Shkak per protesten ishte dhe mbetet mungesa e transparences nga qeveria aktuale per zgjedhjet e fundit elektorale ne Shqiperi dhe korrupsioni galopant deri ne instancat me te larta shteterore qe ka pushtuar vendin, dy faktore qe kane prodhuar nje krize te tejzgjatur politike dhe ekonomike ku ndodhen sot shqiptaret. Kur negociatat midis paleve politike kane deshtuar njera pas tjetres per gati dy vite, dhe kur kompromiset e mundshme per zgjidhjen e krizes jane evituar me qellim nga qeveria aktuale vetem per te mbajtur pushtetin me cdo kusht, popullit sovran i mbetet vetem nje alternative: protesta. Ne besojme se cdo popull i lire ka te drejte te shprehe pakenaqesine kunder qeverise se vet, se cdo popull i lire ka te drejte te mbrohet dhe jo te sulmohet nga policia e vendit te vet, se cdo popull ne demokraci ka te drejte te aspiroje per me shume dinjitet dhe prosperitet te perbashket pa dallime politike. Ne i bejme thirje presidentit te Shqiperise z. Bamir Topi, trupit te huaj diplomatik ne Tirane, perfaqesuesve te Bashkimit Europian dhe organizmave te tjere nderkombetare: - te mbajne qendrim te qarte kunder dhunes se ushtruar nga policia ne 21 Janar 2011, - te nxisin hetimin e 3 vrasjeve te viktimave dhe vendosjen e drejtesise, - te vleresojne objektivisht rolin dhe pergjegjesine e qeverise aktuale dhe kryeminstrit Berisha per pershkallezimin e kesaj krize, - te angazhohen pozitivisht dhe konkretisht per te asistuar shqetesimet legjitime te protestuesve shqiptare kunder autoritarizmit, korrupsionit, varferise e papunesise qe po shkaterrojne vendin cdo dite e me teper, ne menyre qe edhe populli shqiptar te njohe demokracine e vertete, ate te fjales se lire, ate te votes se lire, ate te pjesemarrjes se te gjitheve, ate te transparences dhe drejtesise per te gjithe. Sinqerisht