FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Journalist and publisher of the portal "Bulqiza Ime", Sami Curri, has had his vehicle burned, in an incident that is being investigated as arson. Curri himself describes this act as a direct attack on his investigative work and an attempt to intimidate him.
He said that the event was more difficult for the family members, while for him it was one of the challenges of the profession.
For about 10 years, Curri has been running a local media outlet focused on monitoring institutions in Debar, reporting on protests, energy projects, and suspected abuses of public funds.
He stressed that, although there have been no direct threats, the pressures and interventions have been constant, often in the form of “advice” not to cover certain issues. According to him, the burning of the car aims to create fear and self-censorship, not only in him, but also in other journalists.
Despite this, Curri declares that he will continue his investigative work, while the case has raised concerns about the safety of journalists and media freedom at the local level.
"I'm very well. Normally, in those first hours, that is, of the event, they are a little problematic, mostly for family members because maybe in our daily work this thing... so we face different challenges and so I say this is considered one of those challenges or as it is said in one of our pages, water to drink, so... But for family members it is definitely a little problematic because they are not used to such circumstances, in the social circle, the closest family members as well.
Flavio, fortunately we have known each other for almost, I mean many years, from previous television experiences. I have chosen to return to my hometown after my studies and for nearly 10 years I have founded, so to speak, a portal that I have designed, we are saying, to be a local media, which serves the public interest and the monitoring mainly of the work of local institutions, namely the municipalities that are in the Dibra region and the procurements that are, let's say, the main part of infrastructure investments. Also the work of justice institutions, therefore always more at the local level.
The issues we are dealing with are numerous, I say, because daily work, especially this kind of period, has been very busy, first of all with many protests, starting with the photovoltaic panels, so the HPPs that have turned into protests, especially in Bulqiza, there have been several organizations. At the same time, other protests for HPPs that have received extraordinary support and continuous reporting from our side.
We have also found some significant abuses that we have, which are related to the use of public money, public funds in investments that have been made and that normally have numerous problems on the ground. While the liquidations have continued with millions of euros. I must refer here only to the case of Gjorica, which is a water supply that cost nearly 3.3 million euros and today that water supply is neither in function nor used for running water nor for drinking water, which was essentially the value of the investment, so this is where it should have gone, as I said.
"We have been continuously following these reports that we have had on a daily basis, always showing the problems that come from the use of public funds," he told Syri.tv.
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