Opinion
A child in a police station has rights, not just a file
Violence at the protests must be investigated, even when minors commit it. But the Ombudsman's findings show that the safeguards the law gives children were not applied when they were needed most.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 30, 2026, 18:45 · Updated 19:02 · 2 min read
According to Interior Minister Ervin Demo, 269 of the people detained during the past two weeks of protests are under 18. He rightly called the figure “very worrying.” Police Director Skënder Hita urged parents not to let their children get involved in violence. No one should play down violence, even when it comes from a teenager.
But the same day brought another picture. Ombudsman Endrit Shabani reported that some minors were not held in separate rooms, were interviewed without parents or psychologists present and were questioned outside legal hours. In police stations, minors were found with signs of violence that had not been examined. These are not procedural details: they are precisely the safeguards that distinguish the state from the street.
Justice Minister Toni Gogu proposed four measures: a rights form written in language children can understand, a lawyer without delay, early notification of the child protection worker and shared data among institutions. They are good proposals. But a lawyer without delay is an obligation the law already provides; the problem, as the findings show, is implementation, not a missing rule.
Prime Minister Rama said minors involved in violence should first be seen as “children who need help” and that punishment is not enough. That approach applies to the police as well. If the government asks families to pay for damage done by a child, the state must account for how it treats that child in a police station. Shabani put it plainly: force must be necessary and proportionate, or it loses legitimacy.
We propose three immediate steps. Starting with the next protest, police should apply the rights form and notify a parent and a lawyer for every minor detained. The Police Oversight Agency and the Ombudsman should publish, before Nov. 22, when consultation on the juvenile justice strategy closes, how many of the 269 minors had a parent, lawyer or psychologist present. And every sign of violence found in a police station should be examined and investigated.
