Hundreds of illegally placed CCTV cameras have been removed from public areas by Albanian authorities over the last two weeks, in a crackdown on organised criminal groups which placed them there to monitor police and gang movements.
It has been common knowledge for many years that private CCTVs have been established in certain areas of towns such as in Shkodra in the north, and in the suburbs of the capital of Tirana.
But during the fortnight, authorities sprung into action and started a nationwide action to dismantle them and hold those responsible to account.
Operation “Fijet” saw a total of 37 cameras removed in Elbasan and the arrest of 10 citizens, in Gramsh, four cameras were removed with a further five in Peqin. In Tirana, 220 cameras have been removed with 44 people being placed under investigation. Some 33 cameras were dismantled in Pogradec and Korca, 16 in Vlora, five in Fier, three in Gjirokaster and one in Dibra.
In Shkodra, a city plagued by gang activity, at least 55 were taken down while investigations into those behind them were ongoing.
In 2020, EURACTIV drove through a suburb of Shkodra and observed multiple CCTV cameras on lamp posts, road sign pillars and the corners of buildings. These units were clearly visible and were well known to the local population as being linked to organised crime gangs in the area.
Authorities say that the cameras not only facilitate the activity of criminals, but they violate the privacy of citizens.
The crime of ‘unjust interference in public life’ and infringements on the ‘protection of personal data’ is punishable by a fine or up to two years in jail.
“It is very flagrant – the violation of personal data and the superiority that structured criminal groups have compared with the state,” Erida Skendaj, who heads the Helsinki Committee in Tirana, told BIRN.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
