Thousands of opposition supporters took the streets in Tirana, Albania on Thursday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama and throwing fire bombs at government buildings and the mayor’s office.

The demonstrators also demanded the release of opposition leader Sali Berisha, who has been under house arrest on corruption charges since the previous year. According to the Berisha’s lawyer, the arrest was politically motivated. Although there was no police intervention, protesters fired petrol bombs at them, with no reports of injuries.

Berisha made a video statement saying, “Albania is the only country in Europe with its opposition leader under political arrest without any facts, evidence, or documents.” He described the protests as marking”the beginning of a new, difficult, vital, and decisive battle for the liberation and salvation of Albania, and for the return of free voting, rotation, and democracy in the country.”

In October 2023, prosecutors accused Berisha of abusing his post to help his son-in-law, Jamarber Malltezi, privatize public land to build 17 apartment buildings on the site of the former “Kompleksi Partizani” stadium, with the possibility of 12 years in prison if convicted.

Ilir Meta, the former President of Albania and leader of the opposition “Freedom Party,” has also criticized the Prime Minister, accusing him of undermining Kosovo’s interests as a “Trojan horse for Serbian politics.” Since Rama’s visit to Belgrade in 2014, the first by an Albanian Prime Minister in decades, he has faced ongoing criticism from both the opposition and the media for his close relationship with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Vučić served as Minister of Information under Milošević during the war of Kosovo.

There has been no official statement from Rama or Mayor Veliaj, with the Prime Minister participating in the NATO summit held in Washington DC.

In 2021, Berisha and his family were sanctioned by the US Department of State on “significant corruption” accusations, barring them from entering the United States. The following year, the British embassy in Tirana announced actions against several unnamed Albanian individuals, with Berisha being among them.