Albanian Judge Injured in Acid Attack

Mirela Mishgjoni, a criminal judge in the city of Vlora, suffered injuries to her face after an unknown suspect sprinkled her with a medical acid compound on Tuesday.Mishgjoni was attacked as she left her apartment for work and has been recovering in Vlora’s regional hospital.

Judges in the city of Vlora suspended work in protest, while the Supreme Court and the High Council of Justice condemned the attack.

“We express our solidarity with the judge’s family and strongly condemn this attack,” the deputy head of the Council of Justice, Elvis Cefa, said.

The Supreme Court underlined that after a series of attacks on judges, the authorities needed to do more to protect them.

“This grave assault is an attack on the whole judicial community in Albania,” the Court said.

“In the name of Albanian judicial corps we call on the authorities to respect the legal requirement to protect judges,” it added.

In 2011, a 33-year-old judge from the same court was killed in mafia-style attack, after a bomb exploded in his car. The bombers have yet to be identified.