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Some legal suggestions for those who want to declare Theth an "Independent Republic"
2025-07-14 20:42:56 / EDITORIAL
I'll start with the political conclusion:
The government should not have launched the bulldozer campaign in the middle of the tourist season.
For several days now, I haven't been able to find a logical reason why the government began its attack against illegal construction in mid-July and didn't wait until October?
However, barring completely inappropriate timing, the demolition of unauthorized construction is legal, for several reasons:
1. According to Article 199/a of the Criminal Code, illegal construction on land intended for forestry, agriculture or protected areas is punishable by imprisonment from one to five years.
2. Illegal constructions are not administratively time-barred, meaning they are not automatically legalized after 10 or 20 years. The time-bar applies only to criminal prosecution, but not to the building. The argument “why didn’t IKMT demolish them earlier” is not a legal justification for not acting later.
3. The justification that there are illegal constructions all over Albania is evidence of the failure of the state, but not a legal reason to legalize the constructions in Theth. If the Rama government has failed, like Berisha's, to control the territory, this does not legitimize the anarchy of the illegal shacks.
4. Many of the entities that have built in Theth claim ownership, but are not legally recognized as owners. Without a title deed, no one has the right to build temporarily or permanently.
5. According to the law, IKMT must bill demolition costs to unauthorized builders. In fact, it must first force them to demolish the construction themselves (kiosks, canteens or hostels).
6. The church built in the 19th century is a cultural and historical object, protected by the state and cannot be surrounded by barracks, even with the blessing of the village priest.
7. Tourism construction cannot begin in Theth without first completing investments in basic infrastructure: water, energy, sewage, roads, services, and environmental protection. Hotels and guesthouses are built at the end, not at the beginning.
8. The state should provide residents with loans and assistance to rebuild their guesthouses and businesses in the area according to a plan.
The law should function the same for Gjirokastra and Thethi.
The political ferocity with which the concreting of Theth is defended is deeply provincial.
The battle to protect unauthorized "kiosks" was lost 25 years ago when 800 "3-4 story kiosks" were demolished in Tirana in Rina Park and on the edge of Lana. Anyone who has the illusion that the government will fall from the Thethi protests has made the wrong calculations. Albanians are happy when they demolish their neighbor's "kiosk".
Of course, the state has the responsibility for not yet having prepared a plan and legal framework.
The right to property is fundamental to society.
Without a doubt, the residents of Theth should have priority, but only when they understand that Theth is a national asset and not an independent republic.
Of course, the highlanders of Theth have the right to demand the lands they have owned for 500 years, and even a building permit on the land, but the same right was also given to the Tironci or indigenous citizens who have been demanding the liberation of the "Xanuna lands" in the capital from newcomers for 35 years.
How would they feel today if the Tyrants were to come and "occupy" the lands they inherited from their grandparents according to the Kanun?
Therefore, if they want a democratic Theth and Albania, they must build it on the law or property rights but also based on national and public interest.
Thethi is the heart of Albania and our pride, but don't bury it by Golemizing and concreting it worse than the Kavajë Rock.
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