Albanian Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj resigned on December 10 amid protests triggered by a tragic incident, in which a policeman killed a 25-year-old man in Tirana two days earlier.

Klodian Rasha, was reportedly killed in Tirana’s Lapraka neighborhood on December 8 when Albania celebrated Youth Day, after he disobeyed a police order to stop. The state police claimed that the young man was armed and was “committing suspect actions”.

“My decision comes as a person and as a parent who shares the pain with the parents and family of Klodian Rasha,” Lleshaj said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“I want to say to all police officers to feel proud of their uniform and the sacrifice. The case of murder of Klodian Rasha was a tragic exception,” PM Edi Rama commented after he accepted Lleshaj's resignation.

The police officer who killed Rasha was arrested following the incident and has been accused of homicide committed in excessive self-defense.

Protests by angry citizens over Rasha's killing, which continued for the second day, turned violent on December 10. Demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails and stones and set fire to anything they found on the streets. Police reacted by using tear gas and water canon to disperse the crowd, Albanian Daily News reported.

The latest protest created traffic chaos. The protestors hailed the news of Lleshaj's resignation, but continued to throw torches at the police. According to the police, nine officers were injured of whom three sustained serious injuries and were transferred to hospital. There was no information about injured protestors.

15 people have been prosecuted following the protest in Lezhe municipality the Albanian police said early on December 11. They are accused of organising an illegal gathering, destroying property, obstructing the circulation of vehicles and failing to obey orders from police officers.

The protest took place despite the government ban on gatherings due to the coronavirus epidemic.