Lexojeni në shqip: Shifrat që nuk përputhen: të lënduarit, arrestimet dhe transparenca
How many police officers were injured in the first four days of the protest? On 16 October, the State Police say 120. On the same day, the Interior Minister says 97. Both are official figures, from two institutions of the same state, and the headlines do not explain what each one counts.
This article examines the official figures on the injured and the arrested from 13 to 21 October: where they match, where they do not and why this matters for everyone, including the institutions themselves.
In brief
- Most mismatches are not contradictions. They are snapshots of a growing number, taken at different hours: the injured rise from 156 (16 October) to 320 (21 October).
- Some mismatches are real. The Police and the Interior Minister give different numbers for the same day; the Prime Minister speaks of "80 injured protesters" one day after an official count gave 88.
- Arrest figures are given each time with a different scope: one day, Tirana only, the whole country, 3, 5 or 7 days. So they cannot be compared with each other.
- In the headlines we monitor, we see no single day-by-day series with a cut-off time and a breakdown by group.
What the data show
1. One growing number, not many numbers
The injured, as announced in order: 156 in four days (Interior Minister, 16 October); 272 in five days (18 October); 295 in six days (Interior Minister, 19 October); 303 and 310 (Ministry of Health, morning and evening of 19 October); 320 (Ministry of Health, 21 October): 192 police officers, 92 protesters and 36 passers-by, of whom 9 are still in hospital.
Read in order, these figures rise steadily. The three numbers of 19 October (295, 303, 310) are not a contradiction: they come from different institutions at different hours. The problem is not the figures but how they circulate: a figure without its cut-off time and its source looks like a contradiction even when it is not.
2. Where the figures really do not match
On 16 October, the Police report 120 officers injured "nationwide". On the same day, the Interior Minister reports 156 injured, "among them 97 police officers". The difference is 23 officers. The headlines do not say where it comes from. It may be the scope (the whole country or Tirana only), the definition (every injured officer or only those who received medical care) or the time. By 19 October, the ministries' figures converge: 186, 190 and 191.
On 20 October, the Prime Minister says "about 200 police injured, 80 protesters injured". The police figure is rounded up. The protester figure is lower than the 88 announced the day before. We do not know which source the Prime Minister's figure comes from.
3. Arrests: a different scope every time
| Date | Source | What is announced | Period covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 October | Police | 16 arrested, 49 under proceedings | that day's protest, Tirana |
| 15 October | Police | 55 arrested, 98 under criminal proceedings | the 14 October protest |
| 16 October | Police | 152 arrested (127 in Tirana), 324 under criminal proceedings | 3 days, whole country |
| 17 October | Police Director General | 167 arrested, 7 officers suspended | 5 days |
| 20 October | According to Report TV and A2 CNN | 271 arrested, 33 of them after the 19 October protest | 7 days |
Each row is correct for its own period, but none can be set beside another without knowing what it covers. It is not known, for example, how many of the 271 arrested are minors, how many have been released and how many are in pre-trial detention.
The clearest independent source is the Ombudsman. On 16 October, the Ombudsman meets 214 detainees and finds signs of violence on 26 of them. On 20 October, the Ombudsman reports 18 minors among those taken into custody. On 21 October, the Ombudsman finds 118 people in the Security Block, which has room for 67, 6 of them minors.
4. What is not counted?
- Injured protesters who do not go to hospital. Injured officers are counted by the institution they work for. Protesters are counted when they receive medical care. On 18 October, Citizens Channel says it has documented 32 cases of police violence; this count is not complete either.
- Tear gas. We have seen no public count of the canisters used. On 15 and 17 October, a journalist and a protester show canisters with no expiry or production date.
Why it matters
The debate on proportionality rests on these figures. In the debate, the ratio of 192 officers to 92 protesters is used as evidence that the violence was mainly against the police. But the two groups are not counted the same way: officers are counted by their own institution, protesters mainly when they receive medical care. The ratio says something true about violence against the police, but on its own it is not enough to judge either side.
Unclear figures harm the institutions themselves. When two institutions give two numbers for the same day, or a rounded figure is lower than a published one, each side picks the number that suits it, and trust in all the figures falls. A single series, with a cut-off time and a breakdown by group, would settle this debate for everyone.
Other possible explanations
- Fast-moving events. Numbers change from hour to hour, and institutions report at different moments.
- Different definitions. "Injured", "treated" and "hospitalised" are not the same; nor are "arrested", "taken into custody" and "charged".
- Headlines shorten. A full statement may have explained the scope and the time, which the headline dropped.
So most of the differences may be honest. That does not change the conclusion: without a shared method, the public cannot tell honest differences from errors.
What the data do not show
- We read the headlines, not always the institution's full statement.
- We did not check every official website. Some of these figures may be published there in more detail.
- We do not know how many injured protesters did not go to hospital.
What to watch
- Is a final count published, broken down by day, city and group?
- Is the difference between 120 and 97 injured officers on 16 October explained?
- How many of those arrested are minors, how many have been released and how many remain in pre-trial detention?
- What does the Ombudsman's final report say?
How it was measured
We collected every headline that gives a figure for injuries or arrests from an institution, with its date and source. When the same figure appears in many outlets, we count it once. We do not publish names or initials of those arrested. Sources: Artivista media monitoring, Balkanweb on the undated canister.
