The Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime has forced the Lapsi.al portal to submit the leaked database of more than 910,000 Albanian citizens which was allegedly compiled illegally by the government with data from the Civil Registry. It was created and used for electoral purposes.
The decision came after the managers of the portal Andi Bushati and Armand Shkullaku refused to submit this data as they said it could reveal their source.
The Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the court may compel journalists to indicate the source if it is necessary to prove the offense. Within the media community, forcing a journalist to reveal sources is considered as a serious violation of their ability to work and could constitute as having a chilling effect.
Prosecutors first interrogated Andi Bushati and Armand Shkullaku, owners and editors of Lapsi.al on Friday.
It’s not clear if any action against politicians or political parties has yet been taken.
