During the last years, Prime Minister Rama has consistently displayed the same reaction towards all scandals, whenever socialist MPs and ministers have been denounced to be involved in crime, legal violations, and corruption: threatening to approve in Parliament an anti-defamation law and to punish the defamers, be they journalists, police officers, or common citizens.
When Dritan Zagani denounced the former Interior Minister Tahiri’s connection with the Habilaj clan in 2015, PM Rama announced that he would pass a comprehensive anti-defamation law to punish all those who “defame” ministers and members of parliament; when journalist Jetmir Olldashi denounced the involvement in drug trafficking of the current Interior Minister Xhafaj’s brother, PM Rama threatened to imprison the journalist for defamation – which he is doing these days; and finally, when in September police officer Emiljano Nuhu denounced the Balla-Rraja-Maloku case, PM Rama revived threats for the comprehensive anti-defamation law.
While in Albania PM Rama is drafting the said anti-defamation law, in EU the European Commission has proposed a law for “whistle-blower protection” – those individuals who denounce crime, law violation, and corruption.
According to the EU’s press release:
Whistle-blowers can help to detect, investigate and sanction abuses of EU law. They also play an important role in enabling journalists and the free press to play their fundamental role in our democracies. That is why whistle blowers need proper protection against intimidation and/or retaliation.
Citizens who uncover illegal activities should not be punished as a consequence of their action. But in reality, as we are also witnessing it happening in Albania, many of them pay for their action with their jobs, their reputation or even their health.
Protecting whistle-blowers means safeguarding freedom of expression and media freedom, and is essential to protect the rule of law and democracy in Europe.
Regarding this proposal of the European Commission, First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said:
Many recent scandals may never have come to light if insiders hadn’t had the courage to speak out. But those who did took enormous risks. So if we better protect whistle-blowers, we can better detect and prevent harm to the public interest such as fraud, corruption, corporate tax avoidance or damage to people’s health and the environment. There should be no punishment for doing the right thing. In addition, today’s proposals also protect those who act as sources for investigative journalists, helping to ensure that freedom of expression and freedom of the media are defended in Europe.
European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová added:
The new whistle-blower protection rules would be a game changer: In the globalized world, where the temptation to maximize profit sometimes at the expense of the law is real, we need to support people who are ready to take the risk to uncover serious violations of EU law. We owe it to the honest people of Europe.
