Dozens of citizens and activists gathered today in front of the Traffic Police Commissariat in Tirana to demand the return of skateboards and electric motorbikes confiscated by the police this week.
The protest was called by the organization "Social Justice", which described the decision of the Ministry of Interior as illegal and arbitrary.
"The lawlessness that the state police have entered into due to the whims of the minister is costing the citizens of Tirana," the organization said in a statement.
Lawyer Gentian Sejrani, who accompanied a citizen to the police station, stated upon leaving that even though the ownership documents were shown, the confiscated vehicle could not be recovered.
"According to the police station leaders, the vehicles will be held for 30 days, until the method of their circulation is regulated by law," Sejrani said, adding that the situation remains unclear and without legal basis.
Activist Edison Lika ironically joked from inside the police station that the police officers themselves had arrived on scooters, while citizens were prohibited from using them.
"The motorcycle costs 950 thousand lek. I bought it on credit and I haven't paid it off yet," Renato Dhiaj told Citizens.al.
Also present at the protest were entrepreneurs whose interests are directly affected by the order of the Minister of the Interior, Albana Koçiu, on the movement of electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, Redin Muçaj, a representative of an electrical equipment sales business, said that the minister's decision is "absurd" and is bankrupting the sector.
“I learned about the ban from a Facebook post. This is the most irresponsible way to announce a public policy,” emphasized Muçaj, the representative of an electrical equipment sales business in Albania.
Road safety experts who spoke to Citizens.al have emphasized that The problem does not lie with the skateboards, but with the lack of urban planning and infrastructure for alternative mobility.
While human rights activists call the ban "an authoritarian act against citizens."
On October 12, Interior Minister Albana Koçiu announced the temporary ban on electric vehicles, arguing that 991 accident cases reported by emergency services were "more than enough" for their suspension until the adoption of a new regulation.
"Every day with fate, fate when it opens, fate will open, fate for whom it will open, so it makes no sense," concluded Redin Muçaj.
He completed his master's studies in the department of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Tirana. She has been reporting for more than four years in Citizens.al on issues of culture, urban development, feminism, etc. She is also a contributor to other local and foreign online media, and has worked in the editing of various materials. She is the author of the podcast "Pezull" on Citizens.al and is engaged as a coordinator of projects related to the empowerment of young journalists and migration issues.
