The Albanian government has responded to claims that it was involved in pressuring News24 to terminate the employment of two critical journalists.
In a response sent to the Council of Europe, they call the claims “groundless”. They also wrote that “freedom of speech and media freedom are among the important achievements reached in Albania” and are sanctioned in the Constitution.
They claim that the present Government of Albania respects media freedom and considers them a “cornerstone of the country’s operational democracy.” They said that they have not intervened and would not intervene in any medias’ policies.
They referred to the allegations in the CoE alert as “unfounded” and referenced the reaction of the Board of Journalists of News 24 who claimed the action was due to “the interests of the public opinion.” News24 also claimed that no political or governmental inference would ever affect their editorial line.
In August 2019, News24 announced the closure of two of its most popular TV shows- Ylli Rakipi’s The Unexposed Ones, and Adi Krasta’s Krasta/ A Show. Both programmes were critical of Prime Minister Edi Rama and the government, and Rakipi is currently embroiled in a number of court cases with Rama.
It was reported that President of News24 Irfan Hysenbelliu was reportedly “threatened” by Rama and Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj.
Then, journalist Artur Cani revealed that Rama had met with Hysenbelliu to ask for the dismissal of Rakipi, warning that Krasta would likely lose his job as well.
It was reported on the CoE Media Freedom alerts platform and was categorised as a State Threat, having a chilling effect on media freedom.
During the seven-year tenure of Rama, Albania has fallen a total of 18 places in the independent Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Falling two places during 2019, problems such as a deterioration in press freedom and an increase in attacks on journalists were noted.
According to the country report, 2019 was a year that the government stepped up attempts to take control of the media with the excuse of preventing fake news. The so-called “anti-defamation” package was voted in during December, “limiting freedoms of expression, information and press and running against international best practice.”
These laws increase censorship and make journalists more vulnerable to government pressure. The full implementation of these laws would “further deteriorate the situation of press freedom in a country where the government regularly restricts access of journalists to official information and controls the TV market via the attribution of broadcast licences.”
The government was also called out for using the November 2019 earthquake as an excuse to arrest and detain journalists and to further curb press freedom. During the COVID-19 pandemic, similar claims were made as journalists found it hard to access information, were banned from press conferences, and restricted from reporting near hospitals.
Rama was also criticised for using Vodafone to leave a pre-recorded message on people’s mobile phones telling them to take precautions against COVID-19, including protecting themselves from the media.
