[ALBSA-Info] Memorandum

[Mero Baze]

MEMORANDUM

OF ALBANIAN NON-GOVERNMENTAL NEWSPAPERS


PRIME MINISITER META IS ORCHESTRATING A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE INDEPENDENT PRESS


To: COUNCIL OF EUROPE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
US CONGRESS
ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
FREEDOM HOUSE
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR JOURNALISTS 
FREEDOM FORUM (THE WORLD CENTER)
FREEDOM FORUM (THE EUROPEAN CENTER)
FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER 
MEDIA STUDIES CENTER
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS
CANADIAN COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNLAISTS
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS
ARTICLE XIX
DIPLOMATIC CORP ACCREDITED IN TIRANA


The Tirana Court has sentenced, within a month, four journalists of the
press close to the opposition, whereas seven other legal processes are
open, mainly brought forward by senior officials of the Albanian state to
penalize the journalists. 
Tirana Court issued on October 19, 2000, its decision No. 644 ruling that
Ndreke Gjini, journalist of "Rilindja Demokratike" (RD) newspaper be
sentenced with a two-month term in jail, because in an article he published
several months ago, he quoted a report of the High State Control which
denounced the misappropriation of the solidarity tax by the police in some
border check points.  The Court neglected both the fact that the
journalists had used the information taken from an official document of the
Albanian State, and the fact the Ministry of Interior has fired some police
employees who were involved in this abuse. The journalist was sentenced in
conditions totally unfavorable having been provided with no legal defense
because he was not allowed to make a real confrontation of the real
official reports of the State Control at the judicial seance, and moreover,
the authorities did not make available to his attorney the file of this
case which the Ministry of Interior, accusing the journalist, had opened it.


The Editor in Chief of "Rilindja Demokratike" Astrit Patozi, journalist
Redin Hafizi, and editor of independent newspaper "Tema", Shemsi Peposhi
were fined by a fine of 13 thousand USD, after a legal process demanded by
the wife of the Albanian Prime Minister Ilir Meta.  In all the seances, the
judges did not consider the evidence that the journalists had used as a
proof for their articles. The journalists backed their evidence by
testimonies that local residents gave the journalists and cameramen (the
testimonies are recorded and broadcast by local TV channel in Tirana such
as ATN1 and Shijak TV), who said that Monika Kryemadhi, the wife of the
Prime Minister, was the real administrator of a stone mine where two
workers had lost their lives as a result of the lack of the technical
security. Initially, the journalists began to cover this story by
investigating on the cause of death of the two workers and, later they
found out that the wife of the Prime Minister was the true owner of this
stone mine.  But the Court refused to consider any of the evidence provided
by the journalists.   The fine is worth 3 years of work of an Albanian
journalist and is totally unaffordable for the journalists and their
newspapers.   The Editor in Chief of Rilindja Demokratike has previously
had 6 processes filed against him and has been fined with a fine of 2
thousand USD.  After October 1st, some 7 other legal processes were opened
against "Tema" newspaper, "Rilindja Demokratike" newspaper, "55" daily
newspaper and ATN1 TV channel. Edi Rama, former Minister of Culture and
current Tirana Mayor has sued "Republika" newspaper after it published
articles about the misappropriation of state funds by the Ministry of
Culture.  These legal processes are considered as a sign of the retaliation
by the government against the non-governmental journalists following the
local government elections.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL ON THE PRESS AND ON THE NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 

Organizations that are supposed to defend the journalists in Albania have
done almost nothing to defend them thus showing suspicious results of some
measures taken by the government some times ago to sponsor newspapers close
to the government and the chiefs of these organizations.   The Chairman of
the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania, Armand Shkullaku,
has openly spoken in favor of the Prime Minister and his wife when asked to
comment on the legal processes against journalists at an open television
debate.  Whereas, two human rights organizations, the Albanian Helsinki
Committee and Albanian Group for Human Rights have made no reaction at all.
 The Journalists League of Albania is at a moment of crises because of
government attempts to take it under its control. The government has sought
to cause divisions within this journalists' organization, by avoiding the
decision of the majority of journalists to have their own organization.
The government has declared that it recognizes a pro-government publisher
as the chairman of this organization. This publisher receives a total
amount of 15 000 USD in a form of advertising from the state institutions
and has accepted grant of 50 000 USD from the government right before the
electoral campaign for local government elections.  Before the electoral
campaign, Prime Minister Ilir Meta signed a grant of 450 000 USD  for the
newspapers backing the government, excluding from the grant the independent
daily newspaper "Tema" and refusing to transfer the allocated sum to
opposition newspaper "Rilindja Demokratike". All other newspapers received
an amount which varied from 50 000 USD to 100 000 USD and are at present
totally controlled by Prime Minister Ilir Meta. In such a conditions, the
freedom of the press in Albania is at stake because the government has
paralyzed both the non-governmental organizations and the independent press. 


INEQUALITY IN DISTRIBUTING GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ADVERTISING AND GOVERNMENT
ANNOUNCEMENTS

The government is seeking to control the Albanian press by an unequal
distribution of government sponsored advertisement. Five daily newspapers
which heavily back the government publish 7 to 10 pages of advertisement
per issue at a time when their circulation is low.  "24 Ore" newspaper, a
paper owned by the Spokesman of the Prime Minister has normally 10 to 9
pages of advertising when its circulation in the market is 1000 copies.
"Tema", an independent newspaper, is a middle size newspaper compared to
other newspapers but has no advertisement on its pages because of the
government policy not to assist the press which is not under its control.
"Rlindja Demokratike" and "55", papers which, are not under government
control have a minimal space of advertising.
Based on calculations that can be verified every day, the pro-government
newspapers receive 20-30 thousand USD a month in a form of advertisement,
whereas the newspapers that do not back the government do not receive a
single dollar from government sponsored advertisements.   This includes
notices to tenders, advertisements of state businesses and official
announcements.  On the other hand, this policy of advertisement
distribution threatens the right of citizens to have access to information,
because many readers read only non-government newspapers.  The same
phenomenon is seen in electronic media as well.


CONCLUSIONS:

The problems that the Albanian press is experiencing after elections held
on October 1st are widely seen as part of a retaliation spirit of the
government against those who have criticized the electoral process and in
general take a critical stand towards the government.  Prime Minister Meta
and his family are increasingly generating conflict with the press and the
politics in general. Their vocabulary is extremely aggressive and is often
a source of tension in the country.  The journalists are questioning their
attempts to take under their control the whole financial activity of the
government, the Socialist Party and most recently to control the
independent press thus manifesting in a dangerous way the tendencies of a
government which, instead of building a law based society, are making a
society which is based on the arbitrary use of force, unverified finances
and criminal groups.



1. Mero Baze				Editor in Chief, "Tema" newspaper
2. Fahri Balliu				Director, "55" daily newspaper
3. Agron Bala				Director, "Kontakt" Radio
4. Astrit Patozi	Editor in Chief of "Rilindja Demokratike" 
5. Sokol Olldashi			Editor in Chief, ATN1 TV
6. Gezim Ismaili			Director, Shijak TV
7. Neritan Alibali			Director, "Republika" daily 


Tirana, November, 6, 2000


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