Thousands protest

last updated 8 January 2015

Tirana, Albania

Up to 20,000 Albanians marched peacefully through Tirana this week, calling for Prime Minister Fatos Nano to step down over corruption allegations. Nano, a former communist hard-liner, was convicted of corruption in 1993 and served four years in prison before attaining office. Protesters said he had allowed criminal gangs dealing in drugs and weapons to dominate the country. “Nano must go,” said opposition leader and former president Sali Berisha. “It is he who is stifling the hope of the Albanians.” Crime-ridden Albania, the poorest country in Europe, is still suffering the effects of decades of complete isolation under a repressive communist regime that didn’t fall until 1992.