Parents, citizens, and civil society activists started a protest march this morning after the tragic murder of the 14-year-old student of the "Fan Noli" school, Martin Cani.
With the motto "Parents in protest for children's safety and education", the march started on "Qemal Stafa" street at the entrance of the 9-year-old school.
The participants lit candles as a sign of homage to the minor, and then the march continued towards the Ministry of Education and Sports where, as a symbolic sign, the road was marked with red paint.
"Irresponsible institutions kill" read the banner at the head of the march.
The participants expressed their outrage with the Ministry of Education, which, in the first reaction to the event, was satisfied with the fact that "it happened outside the school premises". For this, they demanded the resignation of Minister Ogerta Manastirliu.
"For what you want the chair, it is human to resign," said during his speech in front of the Ministry, Migen Qiraxhi, one of the organizers, a representative of the Civic Center.
"Come out for failure, not just propaganda and successes," called a 17-year-old who came from Lezha, demanding the resignation of the minister as well as the head of the "Fan Noli" school.
"Why do we need your condolences?! You are there to be held accountable and you must be held accountable!" said Sidorela Vatnikaj, activist.
"We open prisons, but we don't open theaters, we don't develop activities for children, for culture," followed a parent as he responded to Prime Minister Rama's proposal that "closing TikTok and Snapchat is not the solution, as there are many avenues where violence is promoted".
"There was an attempt to teach as if nothing had happened, we need the lesson to stop the next day and talk about socialization, not like that," emphasized a revolted mother, who added that "we all face the dilemma of whether we should raise the child in this country".
"Don't make fun of the psychologist anymore, if the psychologist worked, that whole mess would be over," exclaimed another participant, adding "who protects our children?".
The tragic event happened on Monday in an alley in front of the 9-year-old "Fan Noli" school, shortly after the end of the lesson.
14-year-old Martin Cani died after being stabbed during a fight between his peers in which two others were injured. The police arrested one of them, whom they accused of "intentional murder" and "unlawful possession of cold weapons".
Contrary to the police reference, the prosecutor's office estimated on Thursday that the minor in question should be accused of "murder in qualifying circumstances". For this charge, the Criminal Code provides punishment with "not less than twenty years or life imprisonment".
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He completed master's studies in Investigative Journalism at the Department of Journalism at the University of Tirana. She has been working as a journalist for five years, where she previously covered issues of politics and parliamentary activity, in print and online media. She is currently a journalist at Citizens.al, where she covers various social issues related to the transparency of institutions. At Citizens.al, she leads the podcast "The Unheard" and is engaged as a manager of projects related to the support of investigative journalism.
