Despite several physicals, verbal, online, and legal instances of attacks on journalists, the Albanian government still does not publish any data on violence against journalists. Nor do they keep detailed records of such attacks. This is made worse by limited impartial and inefficient investigation of crimes against them.
These were some of the findings of the SafeJournalist’s “Indicators of the Level of Media Freedom and Journalists’ Safety in Albania 2020” report.
The report noted that while Albania has made progress since the fall of communism, the political landscape still suffers from “continuous conflicts and tensions,” which can undermine the country’s reforms. Furthermore, a lack of a culture of openness in public institutions and unaccountable practices, and the tendency to withhold information have led to a “patronizing and dismissive attitude” towards the media.
Furthermore, “the frail democratic culture that sees the political party as a source of power and privilege” results in less direct participation from citizens. In terms of the media landscape, the report describes it as “dynamic, rich, and diverse,” although it’s headed by “clientelist media” fuelled by politics and business.
The report looked at all the key threats against journalists and the media during 2020 to provide an overview of the situation.
It noted the government’s decision to block medium.com in 2020 because someone had uploaded a pirated copy of a film made by an Albanian comedian with close ties to the Prime Minister. Following public outrage, the site was unblocked.
In terms of funding, there is no kind of media subsidy or funds available from the government to journalists. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists asked for subsidies but were explicitly refused by Rama. However, some media companies received loans of over EUR 1,17 million. They include the largest media companies in the country, most of which favorably cover the government.
The public broadcaster RTSH was also criticized for its supposed independence. The report noted that its relation to politics hinders its overall performance. It also notes that the leadership of RTSH has been accused of corruption and abuse of office for the misuse of funds, yet no one has been convicted for this.
The criminalization of defamation, contrary to best practices, was also noted. While it’s not punishable by a prison sentence, fines of between EUR 400 and EUR 12,000 can be handed down. In 2019, 13 criminal and 62 civil defamation cases were brought to the courts, almost half of which targeted the media.
In 2020, there were at least 12 lawsuits against journalists and three cases of SLAPP in December alone. These cases are often brought to silence and intimidate journalists and to halt sensitive investigations.
Several examples of attacks on journalists were also reported. They included the threat of a SLAPP against Exit journalist Alice Taylor by Aldo Nini, the owner of Acromax. Nini threatened legal action for an investigation she conducted into their work for and with the Socialist Party. The lawsuit never materialized. Later, her investigation was picked up internationally by German portal Netzpolotik who said that Acromax has a “chilling effect on media freedom in Albania.”
It also noted SLAPPs against Artan Rama for his investigations into incinerator concessions and Juli Ristani who investigated bribery in the Ministry of Defense.
As for physical attacks and threats, it noted attacks against Elio Laze by an employee of Salillari, a construction company, a bomb placed outside Elidon Ndreka’s home, the arrest of Exit’s illustrator Diversanti during the demolition of the National Theatre, the assault and detention of Xhoi Malesia, Qamil Xhani, and Shefqet Duka who were following the Klodian Rasha protests.
There were also instances of cyber-attacks, including against Citizen Channel, a media platform that was attacked and completely shut down. Exit News was also hacked and the hacker tried to delete the entire database, but although this wasn’t noted in the report.
