On Oct. 6, Albanian Appeals Court Judge Astrit Kalaja was shot inside the Tirana courtroom where he oversaw a property dispute case, according to the International Commission of Jurists. Kalaja died of his wounds, and two others were injured in the shooting. The 30-year-old suspect has been arrested.

Kalaja’s killing quickly became a lightning rod for nationwide dissatisfaction with the Albanian judiciary. 

Former Albanian Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Agim Nesho told Fox News Digital that reforms implemented almost a decade ago by the European Union and the U.S. were “intended to strengthen the rule of law,” but have been “transformed into a political instrument, undermining democratic institutions and concentrating power in the hands of the executive.”

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“As a result,” Nesho said, “the public’s confidence in the justice system has severely eroded, with institutional dysfunction reaching a level where some segments of society feel driven to take justice into their own hands — a dangerous sign of democratic backsliding.”

Opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha told Fox News Digital that Kalaja’s killing was “an abominable act and an alarm bell that should not be ignored.”

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Berisha said that the “evident support that the act has garnered,” including the creation of a now inactive GoFundMe to support the killer’s legal rights, demonstrates “protest against a dysfunctional judiciary, against a corrupt and politicized judicial system.”

Berisha said judicial reforms “left the country without a Constitutional Court and without a High Court for more than five years,” creating a “staggering backlog” of around 200,000 cases. He said that the process of vetting judicial personnel turned into “a witch-hunt against magistrates that were perceived [to be] independent or potentially right-leaning.” According to Berisha, this led to the “weaponization of the judiciary against the opposition.” 

Lawmakers of the Democratic Party, left, look on as their colleagues of the ruling Socialist party vote in Tirana, Albania, Feb. 22, 2024.  (Armando Babani/AP Photo)

A 2020 report on U.S. assistance to Albania describes American and EU efforts to “restore the integrity of the Albanian justice system.” The report states that USAID assisted the High Court with creating a procedure to manage 72% of its 35,000 backlogged cases. It also stated that 125 of 286 judges and prosecutors put through vetting procedures had “been dismissed for unexplained wealth, ties to organized crime, or incompetence,” while 50 judges chose to resign rather than go through vetting.

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Berisha claimed that in the aftermath of reforms, it now takes about 15–20 years for the resolution of legal disputes. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” Berisha said.

Lawyer Besnik Muçi, formerly a prosecutor and a judge in the Constitutional Court of Albania, told Fox News Digital that judicial reforms aimed “to establish a credible, fair, independent, professional, service-oriented justice system that is open, accountable and efficient.” He said that the Albanian justice system “has failed in almost all” parameters. 

Muçi said the courts’ backlog consists of about 150,000 cases. He also noted that the closure of five appeal courts and some district courts has “almost blocked the citizens’ access to justice.” He also explained that most court buildings do not “meet…the security conditions and standards necessary.” 

“Citizens do not believe in the justice system,” Muçi said. 

Then Albanian President Ilir Meta holds an American flag as he delivers a speech during a rally in Tirana, on March 2, 2020. Thousands of Albanians rallied on March 2, 2020 against the country’s left-wing government and Prime Minister Edi Rama, responding to a call from the president who accuses him of violating the constitution.  (Photo by Gent Shkullaku/AFP via Getty Images)

After Kalaja’s murder, the Korça Bar Association and National Bar Association of Albania boycotted court proceedings on Oct. 9 and 10. Korça Bar Association Director Nevzat Tarelli told Albanian news station CNA that Kalaja’s killing highlighted the need for increased security for and trust in judicial personnel. He also said that “people who expect justice in a timely manner, if they do not receive it, no longer have faith in justice.” 

Engjëll Agaçi, general secretary of Albania’s Council of Ministers, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions about nationwide discontent with the judiciary or the size of Albania’s court case backlog. 

A State Department spokesperson declined to respond to questions about the success of U.S.-backed judicial reform efforts in Albania or address the issues that Kalaja’s killing has highlighted.

“We offer our deepest sympathies to the victims of this attack and their families and strongly condemn the use of violence against judges and prosecutors,” the spokesperson said.

Keaton was best known for her roles in Annie Hall, Reds and The Godfather films.

American actress Diane Keaton, known for her Oscar-winning performance in 1977’s Annie Hall and her role in The Godfather films, has died at the age of 79.

Keaton died in California and her loved ones have asked for privacy, a family spokesperson told People magazine on Saturday.

Keaton, who appeared in more than 60 films, stood out in Hollywood with a personal style that favoured androgynous looks: suits, turtleneck sweaters and her trademark hats.

The actress shot to fame in the 1970s with her role as Kay Adams, the girlfriend and eventual wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy as well as her collaborations with director Woody Allen.

Keaton frequently worked with Allen, portraying the titular character in Annie Hall, the charming girlfriend of Allen’s comic Alvy Singer.

“It was an idealised version of me, let’s put it that way,” Keaton said about the film in an interview with the United States TV network CBS News in 2004.

The film also garnered Oscars for best picture, best director and best original screenplay, cementing Keaton’s place as one of the industry’s top actresses and an offbeat style icon as well.

She made a total of eight films with Allen, including 1979’s Manhattan.

Her star-making performances in the 1970s were not a flash in the pan as she would continue to charm new generations for decades, thanks in part to a longstanding collaboration with filmmaker Nancy Meyers, with whom she made four films.

A BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, Keaton scored Oscar nominations three other times for best actress for Reds, Marvin’s Room and Something’s Gotta Give.

Her many beloved films included The First Wives Club, Father of the Bride, The Family Stone and the Book Club movies.

Born Diane Hall in Los Angeles on January 5, 1946, Keaton was romantically involved with Allen, Pacino and Warren Beatty (her Reds costar), but she never married.

“I think I was really afraid of men and also very attracted to extremely talented people that were dazzling,” she told Elle magazine in 2015. “I don’t think that makes for a good marriage with a person like me, someone who just didn’t adjust well.”

Keaton is survived by her two children, Dexter and Duke, whom she adopted in her 50s.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader — Marwan Barghouti — is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal.

Israel has also rejected freeing other high-profile prisoners whose release Hamas has long sought, though it was not immediately clear if a list of around 250 prisoners issued Friday on the Israeli government’s official website was final.

Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told the Al Jazeera TV network that the group insists on the release of Barghouti and other high-profile figures and that it was in discussions with mediators.

Israel views Barghouti as a terrorist leader. He is serving multiple life sentences after being convicted in 2004 in connection with attacks in Israel that killed five people.

But some experts say Israel fears Barghouti for another reason: An advocate of a two-state solution even as he backed armed resistance to occupation, Barghouti could be a powerful rallying figure for Palestinians. Some Palestinians view him as their own Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist who became his country’s first Black president.

With the ceasefire and Israeli troop pullback in Gaza that came into effect Friday, Hamas is to release about 20 living Israeli hostages by Monday. Israel is to free some 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences, as well as around 1,700 people seized from Gaza the past two years and held without charge.

The releases have powerful resonance on both sides. Israelis see the prisoners as terrorists, some of them involved in suicide bombings. Many Palestinians view the thousands held by Israel as political prisoners or freedom fighters resisting decades of military occupation.

Many to be released were jailed 2 decades ago

Most of those on the Israeli prisoner list are members of Hamas and the Fatah faction arrested in the 2000s. Many of them were convicted of involvement in shootings, bombings or other attacks that killed or attempted to kill Israeli civilians, settlers and soldiers. After their release, more than half will be sent to Gaza or into exile outside the Palestinian territories, according to the list.

The 2000s saw the eruption of the Second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising fueled by anger over continued occupation despite years of peace talks. The uprising turned bloody, with Palestinian armed groups carrying out attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis, and the Israeli military killing several thousand Palestinians.

One prisoner who will be freed is Iyad Abu al-Rub, an Islamic Jihad commander convicted of orchestrating suicide bombings in Israel from 2003-2005 that killed 13 people.

The oldest and longest imprisoned to be released is 64-year-old Samir Abu Naama, a Fatah member who was arrested from the West Bank in 1986 and convicted on charges of planting explosives. The youngest is Mohammed Abu Qatish, who was 16 when he was arrested in 2022 and convicted of an attempted stabbing.

Hamas has long sought Barghouti’s freedom

Hamas leaders have in the past demanded that Israel release Barghouti, a leader of the militant group’s main political rival, Fatah, as part of any deal to end the fighting in Gaza. But Israel has refused in previous exchanges.

Israel fears history could repeat itself after it released senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a 2011 exchange. The long-serving prisoner was one of the main architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the latest war in Gaza, and he went on to lead the militant group before being killed by Israeli forces last year.

One of the few consensus figures in Palestinian politics, Barghouti, 66, is widely seen as a potential successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, the aging and unpopular leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority that runs pockets of the West Bank. Polls consistently show Barghouti is the most popular Palestinian leader.

Barghouti was born in the West Bank village of Kobar in 1959. While studying history and politics at Bir Zeit University, he helped spearhead student protests against the Israeli occupation. He emerged as an organizer in the first Palestinian uprising, which erupted in December 1987.

Israel eventually deported him to Jordan. He returned to the West Bank in the 1990s as part of interim peace agreements that created the Palestinian Authority and were meant to pave the way for a state.

After the Second Intifada broke out, Israel accused Barghouti – then head of Fatah in the West Bank — of being the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a loose collection of Fatah-linked armed groups that carried out attacks on Israelis.

Barghouti never commented on his links to the Brigades. While he expressed hopes for a Palestinian state and Israel side by side in peace, he said Palestinians had a right to fight back in the face of growing Israeli settlements and the military’s violence against Palestinians.

“I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist,” he wrote in a 2002 editorial in The Washington Post.

Soon after, he was arrested by Israel. At trial he opted not to defend himself because he didn’t recognize the court’s authority. He was convicted of murder for involvement in several Brigades’ attacks and given five life sentences, while acquitted over other attacks.

A unifying figure throughout his imprisonment

In 2021, Barghouti registered his own list for parliamentary elections that were later called off. A few years earlier, he led more than 1,500 prisoners in a 40-day hunger strike to call for better treatment in the Israeli prison system.

Barghouti showed he could build bridges across Palestinian divisions even as he reached out to Israelis, said Mouin Rabbani, non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now and co-editor of Jadaliyya, an online magazine focusing on the Middle East.

Barghouti is “seen as a credible national leader, someone who can lead the Palestinians in a way Abbas as consistently failed to,” he said.

Israel is “keen to avoid” that, since its policy for years has been to keep Palestinians divided and Abbas’ administration weak, Rabbani said, adding that Abbas also feels threatened by any Barghouti release.

Barghouti is not connected to the corruption that has plagued Abbas’ Palestinian Authority and turned many against it, said Eyal Zisser, the vice rector of Tel Aviv University and an expert in Arab-Israeli relations.

His popularity could strengthen Palestinian institutions, a terrifying thought for Israel’s right-wing government, which opposes any steps toward statehood, Zisser said.

Barghouti was last seen in August, when Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted a video of himself admonishing Barghouti inside a prison, saying Israel will confront anyone who acts against the country and “wipe them out.”

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Keath reported from Cairo, and Frankel from Jerusalem. Associated Press correspondent Bassem Mroue contributed from Beirut.