Use of rubber bullets and pellets at Tirana protests (17-24 October 2026)

Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera reported that on 17 October 2026 Albanian police fired rubber bullets at anti-government protesters in Tirana. AFP described it as the first such use since the protests began. Reuters reported that police footage appeared to show an officer firing toward crowds outside the Education Ministry, with pellets striking two Reuters journalists and several demonstrators. Police chief Skender Hita did not deny the use and said the means were used 'in a limited manner'. RSF counted at least 23 media professionals affected between 13 and 19 October, one of them wounded in the leg by a police rubber projectile.

On 24 October 2026 a 28-year-old protester, Erjon (also spelled Erion) Vishkulli, was reported hit in the left eye by a rubber bullet. The Tirana Prosecution registered proceeding no. 7806/2026, which Balkanweb reports concerns Articles 248 and 250 of the Criminal Code and possible disproportionate use of force by police. No outcome was found.

Whether rubber bullets could lawfully be fired at a person, or at the head or upper body, has not been established: the relevant Albanian legal texts could not be read (see gaps). A line repeated across many reports says Albanian law allows rubber bullets only in extreme cases; it was not traced to a primary text.