Albanian man arrested on charges of hate crime and terrorism threats against Israelis

Albanian police have arrested a man for allegedly using social media to call for the murder of Israelis.

The 39-year-old was arrested at his home, in the village of Koxhaj, 30 kilometres from Tirana. The arrest came after an investigation started in January, according to police. He was charged with terrorism and hate crime offences and if convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

He has been remanded in custody as a “security measure”.

Hate crimes, especially online are rarely prosecuted in Albania. According to OSCE./ODHIR data there have only been three prosecutions since 2014. They note that “Albania has not periodically reported to ODHIR the numbers of hate crimes recorded by the police.”

Source: Exit News