An incident filmed at a cafe has put Ombudsman Endrit Shabani at the center of attention. In footage circulating on social media, several young people approach him and insult him, while he can be heard saying that he was there with his parents.
What is seen in the video
In the published video, insulting shouts can be heard directed at Shabani, including the words: “Hey clown, aren’t you ashamed” and “You are a traitor, you deserve it.”
Shabani himself can be heard telling the people filming him: “You’re making a video for Facebook, I’m here with my parents.”
Endrit Shabani’s reaction
After the footage was published, Shabani reacted publicly, claiming that he was verbally attacked by an activist of the party “Shqipëria Bëhet” while he was having coffee with his parents.
According to his version, the person who approached him and filmed him was Mevlan Mata, whom he says he has known since high school and identifies as an activist of this political force.
The link he makes to a debate that had started earlier
Shabani links this episode to an open debate from a day earlier, after the publication of a video in which he was greeting two MPs.
In his reaction, he argues that, because of the office he holds, he has an institutional obligation to cooperate with MPs regardless of party, and that such conduct should not be treated as grounds for personal attacks.
The boundary between criticism and intrusion into private life
Shabani says criticism of him as a public figure is acceptable, but not the involvement of family members in political confrontations.
He stresses that his parents have no role in public debates and that, in his view, family and the home should remain outside political pressure and such scenes.
The incident has sparked reactions on social media, not only because of the language used toward a public official, but also because of the way political clashes are increasingly moving outside institutions and into private spaces.
So far, there is no information about any other official reaction regarding the incident, beyond Shabani’s own public statement.