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Why was the murder of the judge inside the courthouse foreshadowed?

2025-10-15 22:56:03Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Judge Astrit Kalaja

Surrounded on all sides by buildings, with a small courtyard, without sufficient halls, the Court of Appeals building offers neither security nor minimal working conditions.

The event that took the life of judge Astrit Kalaja seems not to be entirely unexpected for those who work in this institution.

Gerti Shella, from InfoCip, who has closely followed the reform in the justice system, says that the administration of the Court of Appeals has foreseen these moments of danger.

In the summer of 2025, a close meeting was held with representatives of the Appeals Court who expressed concern about the risk of attacks on convicts appearing in this court, who enter through the back entrance. Unable to provide it themselves, the court requested the purchase of a simple portable protective system, like in stadiums, where there are violent fans.

"It was identified that someone from the buildings surrounding this court could strike, carry out attacks, putting at risk not only the lives of the detainees, but also the police officers who accompany them to the back entrance of this court," said Gerti Shella, director of INFOCIP.

"The first precedent that occurred inside this courthouse occurred in October 2023, a news story that was reported exclusively on Top Channel. Three judges, Edlira Petra, Lutfije Celami and Valdete Hoxha, were attacked with force in the courthouse while they were pronouncing a verdict against a person suspected of serious criminal offenses," said journalist Anila Hoxha.

"Immediately after this chronicle, the judges saved themselves by locking themselves in the consultation room after the physical and verbal attack, until the police arrived. The first to react was the court itself, which after having spoken with Valdete Hoxha in writing, who was also the deputy president of the Court of Appeal but also a member of the body that was physically attacked, sent a letter to the Supreme Court of Justice raising concerns about the security parameters on the one hand and the increased conflicts, but also due to the prolonged application processes of the new judicial map and a number of other circumstances, the judges were not safe and for this reason the Supreme Court of Justice should change the security measures," said journalist Anila Hoxha.

Before it was turned into a courthouse, this modest building was once a former fire department. It housed the administration and firefighting personnel for the capital. After the 2023 reform, which merged all the courts of appeal into districts, they were relocated and gathered in this building.

For experts, this building has nothing in common with the modern buildings of the Court of Appeal in Shkodër, Vlora, Gjirokastra and Korça, financed by the EU and specially designed to be buildings that would administer the trial process in second instance. This is the building of the Court of Appeal in Shkodër, a modern environment with all the conditions which was closed in 2022. Half of the building is already housing the court of first instance.

"When it comes to the Shkodra Court of Appeal, where Astrit Kalaja also worked, these are extraordinary environments that have been closed by the Supreme Court and grass has sprouted there," said Gerti Shella, director of INFOCIP.

 


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