An incident reported this Thursday in the village of Vuno in Himara has caused reactions, after journalist and publicist Arjan Konomi allegedly verbally clashed with members of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s escort and was then escorted to the Himara Police Station.
The case was made public by the leader of the “Albania Becomes” movement, Adriatik Lapaj, who, through a post on social media, denounced what he describes as “thug behavior” and violation of the law by the Prime Minister’s entourage.
According to the version published by Lapaj, Arjan Konomi, who is a resident of Vuno, objected to the way the prime minister’s convoy was parked in the center of the village. He claims that the vehicles occupied a significant portion of the space and were parked irregularly.
Lapaj writes that residents of the area are regularly fined by the police for improper parking, so Konomi has asked the people accompanying the Prime Minister to apply the same standard to senior state officials.
“The law must first be implemented by the Prime Minister and then by every citizen,” Lapaj writes, claiming that after Konomi’s intervention, the situation has degraded into a clash with the Prime Minister’s bodyguards.
According to the complaint, Konomi was caught by his escorts and then taken to the Himara Police Station. Lapaj uses strong language to describe the incident, claiming that force was used against the journalist during the escort.
He condemned the behavior of the Prime Minister’s entourage and described the incident as an example of double standards in law enforcement.
“I strongly condemn the illegal behavior of the Prime Minister’s entourage, but also of Mr. Rama himself, who allows himself rights above the law,” Lapaj writes.
According to him, the case takes on special importance due to the fact that Konomi is a public figure and has the opportunity to make the event known, while other citizens may find themselves in similar situations without having the same opportunity to react.
“When they behave this way with a citizen who has a public voice, I imagine how they behave with the working citizen, the pensioner, the disabled, who is much more vulnerable,” concludes Lapaj.
To this point, the material made public does not present an official version from the State Police, the Prime Minister’s Office, or Arjan Konomi himself regarding the full dynamics of the event. For this reason, the claims published by Adriatik Lapaj remain to be verified by the institutions and parties involved.
