The father of the prisoner, Edmond Piraniqi, accused the staff of Reçi Prison in northern Albania of violence and torture against his son, who is now in coma since 4 days.
Talking to the investigative program Fiks Fare, Lulzim Pezaku states that on June 29, 2024, his son, the prisoner Edmond Piraniqi was found without signs of life and was then taken to the Shkodra Regional Hospital, where he is currently in a coma and intubated as a result of the serious injuries.
He says that in some letters found there, the prison staff wrote that he ‘attempted suicide’, but such a thing is untrue and that his son was found on the floor with visible signs of violence on his body.
“He had a few more years left to complete his sentence,” says Lulzim Pezaku, Edmond’s father, adding that his 44-year-old son has been in very good health. But he adds that on June 29, 2024, they informed him that the boy was found without signs of life in the cell and they took him to the hospital.
“He had often complained about the violence there by the prison staff. They took him to the hospital and he has been in a coma since June 29. He has big marks on his body and he did not attempt suicide, but they beat and tortured him. The doctors of Shkodra Hospital told us that they he had been beaten and now is intubated. I am asking for justice to clarify this incident, because the boy is 44 years old and until today he had no problems”, asserts Lulzimi.
He further adds that he spoke with his son a few days before the incident, where he learned that he was in solitary confinement and that the phone calls had been banned. The prisoner’s father says that his son asked for a television set and was brought one by family and he didn’t miss anything.
After the complaint, the family members went to the Shkodra Regional Hospital.
At the entrance to the hospital room, the intensive care unit where he is staying, there are two policemen at the door guarding him, while the prisoner is in a coma.
The family members tell the doctor that Edmond did not try to kill himself, but they beat him and he has marks on his body. The doctor replies that the medical-legal expert will decide on this, that they should go to the prosecutor’s office and the police, and that he will continue the treatment.
The family members also go to Reçi Prison and look for the nurse and the director. At first they let them wait, but eventually they don’t manage to meet anyone of them.
The prison staff says that the convict was found by the guards on June 29 at 9:20 p.m., hanging with the sheet on the window frame, in the isolation room.
According to them, at 21:31 he was placed in the ambulance and transported to the hospital with signs of life. When asked why there are signs of violence on the convict’s body, the prison affirms that no violence has been committed, but this case is up to the prosecution to investigate, which has also seized the CCTV footage.
Furthermore, the prison adds that the convict was escorted on June 6 to isolation, after having a conflict with another convict. While according to them, on June 10, in the isolation unit, he tried to burn the room and in this case he attacked the guards.
On the day of the incident, says Reçi Prison staff, the prisoner insulted the policemen in his room. He had taken the medication but he still hadn’t calmed down. He was then sent to isolation again and a few minutes later, where he was found in serious health conditions.
The June 29 event has some question marks as to why was a convict with his diagnosis left in that institution? What did the guards group want in the cell and why has it been transferred several times, from his cell to isolation? Of course, the footage can reveal the whole dynamic, the claims of the family members, but the CCTV views are only in the corridors and not in the rooms! The actions or inactions of that institution caused the prisoner to be in a critical condition for life, in a coma for 4 days now.
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