A resident of the village of Simon in Mirdita was raped this morning in Rrëshen amid suspicions of revenge for his activism against hydroelectric power plants in the Kaçinar area.
Col. Ndoji, 58, was attacked after buying food at the city market. The incident occurred at around 9:00 a.m. when two people approached him and, after drawing his attention, hit him. One of them has been detained by the police, while the other is wanted.
According to the statement made to the police, Ndoji was able to get away from them, but they chased him in a car and then ambushed him after surrounding an apartment.
"They came up to me and we fought, they hit me with stones and I answered them, yes with stones," Ndoji told his version to judicial police officers.
The testimony was taken from him at the hospital in the city of Rreshen, where he was admitted to receive medical attention for the head injuries.
It turns out that Ndoji had encountered one of the aggressors before: at the April 15 protest in Kaçinar. According to the 58-year-old, the person in question was there that day. "in a black SUV with police stripes" who had blocked the protesters' path.
In his testimony, Ndoji says that he exchanged words with this person, which hint at a verbal clash.
"I told him to open the way and put my hand on his neck. He told me 'you'll get a job with me and we'll see each other' and then he opened the way," Ndoji stated.
For several years, residents of the villages of Kaçinari, about 25 kilometers north of Rrëshen, have opposed the construction of four hydroelectric power plants by the company "Shpërdhaza sh.pk".
Over the past three months, they have escalated their protests, accusing the company of lack of transparency and environmental damage. Col. Ndoji has participated in them along with other residents.
This has further fueled suspicions that the latest incident is related to his engagement as an activist.
After the incident, local residents showed solidarity with Col. Ndoji and accompanied him to the hospital. They describe the attack as unprecedented and an attempt to intimidate and stop the protests.
According to the headman of the village of Simon, Gjergj Deda, the aggressors are guards of the company that is carrying out the works on the hydroelectric power plants in Kaçinar. According to him, there is nothing personal in the act of violence, except the conflict over the hydroelectric power plants.
"They haven't known each other their whole lives, it's just the problem of hydroelectric power plants," Deda emphasized.
Currently, residents are involved in two lawsuits with the firm “Shpërdhaza sh.pk.” In one, they accuse the company of forging residents' signatures, which paved the way for permits.
In another, the company has sued residents for defamation. Among the defendants is Kol Ndoji's brother, who was recently raped. A court hearing was held on Wednesday for this lawsuit, where the claims between the parties were presented. The next hearing is expected to be held on September 6.
"We have not offended anyone, what we have spoken about, we have had with the company, not individuals", adds Deda.
According to the village headman Simon, the change of company administrators does not change the fact that the community does not want hydropower plants and is therefore facing a lack of institutional accountability.
The rape of Kol Ndoji raises strong questions about the safety of citizens and the community exercising the right to protest.
The residents' lawyer in the HEC case, Marash Logu, told Citizens that this event is serious and that they have contacted the Mirdita Police Station, the Lezha Local Police Directorate, and the Lezha Prosecutor's Office for a full investigation and clarification.
"Even before, residents have faced pressure, threats, blackmail and intimidation, but until now they had not encountered physical violence," said Logu, according to whom the conflict in Kaçinar has degraded and for this reason the suspension of works is necessary.
"Until the legal situation, documents, permits and consultations with residents, which should have been done and were not done, are fully clarified," Logu further emphasized, recalling that this tense issue has been ongoing since 2015.
Read also:
- Mirdita: Kaçinari residents protest against HPPs
- HPP machinery returns to Kaçinar under police guard
- HPPs in Kaçinar, residents demand suspension of works
- Residents of Kaçinari in front of the Ministry of Infrastructure, against HPPs
Erisa Kryeziu has completed higher studies in Journalism and Communication and Master of Science in Public Relations at the University of Tirana. She has been a journalist and project manager at Citizens.al for five years, where she reports on social issues and human rights, especially on issues of rights at work, in education, gender equality, marginalized groups, people with disabilities such as and for environmental issues. At the same time, she works as a project coordinator with a focus on youth and media education. User of new reporting techniques such as "Mobile Journalism" and citizen engagement tools in reporting (ECR-Engage Citizens Journalism).
