21 january 2011, 4 dead, 55 injured, 1 murderer : The State.

13 years of injustice.

Their children are 13 years older. Their parents are 13 years older.

The socialists have been in power for 10 years, the (ineffective) democrats have been in opposition for 10 years, and the justice system has been reformed for 7 years.

Aleks Nika, Faik Myrtaj, Hekuran Deda and Ziver Veizi, 13 years underground.

Everyone is together again, with the same commitment as 13 years ago : to demand justice.

This year, the government is more optimistic, but at the same time more critical of the judicial system. For the Prime Minister, the recent decision of the Strasbourg Court, which described the events of 21 January as a crime of the State without investigation, is a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

The file on the re-investigation of the events of 21 January is languishing in the back room, left between the SPAK and the Tirana public prosecutor's office. It's up to the Supreme Court to decide who will reopen this file, but the government has clearly indicated who it will entrust with the investigation.

Alex Nika's uncle still believes that at least they will find out who shot his nephew.

Red carnations have been placed where the bullet took the lives of 4 innocent demonstrators, who had joined the Socialist Party's call to march against the government of Sali Berisha, then with Ilir Meta in the coalition, and Lulzim Basha as Interior Minister.

CONTEXT -

The events of 21 January 2011 are now undoubtedly among the most tragic moments in the history of Albanian democracy.?

The demonstration on 21 January was the culmination of a long political commitment by the opposition led by Edi Rama (now PM since 2013), who since autumn 2009 had been defending the cause against the government under the motto "Open the boxes or leave". This case refers to the publication in early January 2011 of a video of former deputy prime minister Ilir Meta and his subordinate, the late Dritan Prifti, talking about a few concessions in exchange for a sum of money.?

On the basis of this video, the opposition led by Rama called on Albanians to demonstrate against the government on 21 January 2011.?

From the outset, it was clear that the demonstration was not going to be like any other, and it began very violently: in the centre of the capital, cars were set alight and clashes between participants and the police broke out, while in the afternoon, the peak of the violence was reached when guns rang out in the direction of the protesters from inside the Prime Minister's office.?

The investigation at the time revealed that it was the Republic Guards who had fired, and a video published by journalist Artan Hoxha confirmed that at least one of the 4 murders had been committed by the Guards of the time.

Subsequently, several telephone recordings surfaced, showing that the shootings were the result of explicit orders.

The 4 killed were declared "Martyrs of the Motherland" on the 10th anniversary of the serious crime, while the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana resumed the investigation to uncover the author of the murder of Aleks Nika and the wounding of two other citizens a decade ago.

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