'Our Land, Our Albania': Supreme Court Burns as Anger Over Jared Kushner-Linked Resort Fuels Revolt

Protesters in Tirana set fire to Albania's Supreme Court late on Saturday as a movement that began over a Jared Kushner-linked resort widened into a broader challenge to Prime Minister Edi Rama's government.

The blaze on 17 October 2026 came during a week of violent demonstrations, with hundreds detained and more than 270 people injured. What started as the so-called Flamingo Revolution against a luxury development on the southern coast has drawn in students angry about corruption, education and jobs. Rama, in power since 2013, has refused to resign.

Fire at the Supreme Court

Demonstrators set fire to the Supreme Court building late on Saturday and to the entrance of the Bank of Albania, AFP reported. Justice Minister Toni Gogu condemned the attacks, saying they targeted independent institutions that serve citizens rather than the government. The extent of the damage to court offices and records was not immediately clear.

'Offices at the Supreme Court in Tirana were set ablaze as anti-government protests over corruption, education, and unemployment entered their fifth day,' Al Jazeera posted on X. Police had also fired tear gas outside the Education Ministry.

The Kosovo outlet Koha reported on Saturday evening that part of the Supreme Court building was in flames, along with a nearby parked vehicle and several rubbish bins, as the protest grew more aggressive.

Officers have also used water cannon and rubber bullets. A Health Ministry report on Sunday morning recorded 65 people injured overnight, including 37 police officers, with 12 taken to hospital. Since the protests began on Tuesday 13 October, 272 people have been injured, including 169 police officers.

Police said 167 people had been arrested, a separate figure from the 388 people against whom criminal proceedings had been opened. The state police chief said seven officers had been suspended pending a disciplinary investigation into whether they exceeded their authority.

Images of the burning court spread quickly online, along with claims about its cause. One X user, @sarrah_bellus, wrote that Albanians had set fire to the Supreme Court 'after it allowed Jared Kushner to buy land in the country' against their wishes. The post had drawn about 1.2 million views and 86,000 likes when checked on Monday 19 October.

'Our Land, Our Albania'

Among the protesters is Marjana Koceku, a 25-year-old independent member of parliament whom Rama personally picked to run last year as one of the young faces of his Socialist Party, Reuters reported. She comes from the remote mountains of northern Albania, where her family runs a small guest house on a lake shore.

Koceku said she broke with the government over the coastal development. 'I didn't agree, especially with the policies that they were implementing against nature, and our land and our Albania,' she said. 'Our country is the Albanian people.'

By Friday, police said about 500 protesters had been detained, of whom 330 were released, and about 120 police officers and 45 protesters had been injured. Reuters said the protester figure was likely higher because many injuries went unrecorded. Protesters told the agency they turned to violence because they felt unheard.

The resort at the heart of the original protests is planned for Albania's southern coast, including the uninhabited island of Sazan and the protected Vjosa-Narta wetland near Zvërnec, home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites, Al Jazeera reported. Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with PPNEA-BirdLife Albania, warned in June: 'This would be a new city with around 10,000 rooms and it will completely destroy that wild region.'

Albania's anti-corruption prosecutors, SPAK, opened an investigation into the funds used to acquire land titles and their sale to investors. It has not been confirmed that Kushner's firm, Affinity Partners, bought the fenced-off land near Zvërnec, according to Al Jazeera.

In July, villagers told Reuters their land had been wrongfully sold for the development. Reuters later reported that the seller was wanted by prosecutors on suspicion of drug trafficking, which his lawyer denies. The agency said it found no evidence of wrongdoing by Kushner, who is not directly involved in the villagers' dispute.

Rama Refuses To Go

Rama has defended the project as a way to modernise a country that spent decades in Communist isolation, and has rejected calls to step down. 'Governments are changed through democratic elections and we had them last year, not through violence,' he told Reuters. In a separate statement, he said: 'My responsibility is to listen, address legitimate concerns and keep Albania moving forward,' the agency reported.

In a video address on Facebook, Rama blamed unspecified foreign interests for the unrest, invited students to talks and warned that the violence threatened Albania's goal of joining the European Union.

The movement has broadened well beyond the resort. Student grievances over university conditions, tuition fees and unemployment have merged with the environmental campaign and with accusations of corruption.

Prosecutors alleged last year that Rama's deputy prime minister steered construction contracts to favoured companies, a charge both men deny, Reuters reported. Opposition figures and protesters are demanding that he leave office.

In June, Rama said there was 'absolutely no chance' the investment would stop while he remained in office.

As unrest continued in Tirana on Sunday, Rama showed no sign of stepping aside after 13 years in power.