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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
News from other countries:
On the evening of 17 October, participants in the ongoing mass protests in Albania set fire to the Supreme Court building.
At the time of the incident, anti-government protests over corruption, education, and unemployment had already been going on for five days.
Attacks on government institutions became part of a large-scale movement (which local media called the “Flamingo Revolution”).
The protests, led by students, faculty, and opposition politicians, erupted over a range of deep domestic problems that participants sought to bring to the authorities’ attention by radical means:
• Corruption and cronyism in the government:
The catalyst for the protests was a scandalous project to build a luxury resort on Albania’s protected coastline by a firm associated with Jared Kushner (Donald Trump’s son-in-law).
• Economic crisis and standard of living:
Participants protested high living costs, unemployment, and inflated tuition fees combined with extremely low-quality education and poor conditions at universities.
• Demand for the prime minister’s resignation.
Why the Supreme Court?
The choice of the Supreme Court (along with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice, and the Bank of Albania) as targets for arson was not accidental.
Protesters view the judiciary in the country not as an independent body but as an instrument defending the interests of the government elite.
Setting the court on fire demonstrated the public’s complete distrust of official justice, which they believe conceals corrupt schemes related to property and land.
It is important to recall that the radical actions occurred after it was officially announced in June that the vetting of all 400 sitting judges and prosecutors had been successfully completed, resulting in the dismissal of half of the magistrates.
Recall that as a result of that process the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court had not been functioning for two years, since only one judge remained in each of those courts.
To those Ukrainian radicals who will rejoice at this news from Albania and continue to fan the flames about the Ukrainian Supreme Court with language such as “the doomed Supreme Court” or “the Supreme Court gone wild with impunity,” we report an important fact.
As a result of the fire on the building’s first floor, part of the court archives and criminal case files were damaged, forcing the Supreme Court to officially cancel and postpone nearly all hearings.
According to one version, radical groups in the crowd deliberately attempted to block the judiciary’s work or destroy investigation materials.
More details here:
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/10/18/albania-protests-supreme-court-fire
and here:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20261017-albanian-capital-sees-fifth-straight-day-of-violent-clashes-1
And to those judges of the Ukrainian Supreme Court who still feel like discussing among yourselves topics similar to those that led Knyazev to a WACS verdict and the loss of professional reputation, we advise you to reread the first part of this text.
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