A judge of the Court of Appeals of Tirana was shot dead on Monday, October 6, in the middle of a hearing for a man who appeared before him, arrested quickly, said Albanian police in a statement.
Astrit Kalaja was presiding over the audience when this man released a weapon and titled it. “Transported in an emergency to the hospital, the judge succumbed to his wounds along the way,” police said.
Two people also affected
A father and his son, who participated in the trial, were also affected and taken to the hospital, but his days are not in danger.
According to the local press, the shooter, which appeared for a matter of property rights in land, said “was losing” and that is why it attracted the judge.
This “criminal assault undoubtedly requires the most extreme legal response to the aggressor”, Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, reacted in X.
“This tragic event constitutes that I believe that the most indisputable argument to support a significant tightening of the Criminal Code with respect to the sanction for using unauthorized weapons,” added the prime minister presenting his fraternal condolences to the family of Astrit Kalaja.
The illegal port of firearms is responsible for a maximum three -year sentence in prison, according to the Albanian law. The president, Bajram Begaj, also condemned in a statement the attack on the judge: “A terrible attack against the entire justice system!”
According to the data of the Southeast Documentation Center and Eastern Europe on the fight against the proliferation of light weapons (SEESAC), between January and June 2025, there were 213 incidents for firearms in Albania.
Source: BFM TV
