FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The Prime Minister sells a non-negotiable obligation from Brussels as his success...
At the end-of-year conference, Edi Rama attempted to sell as a "gift to journalists" one of the oldest and non-negotiable conditions of the European Union: the decriminalization of defamation. In ironic and cynical tones, the head of government mocked the media, saying that "now you are free to defame as much as you want", while in the background echoed the two hot SPAK files on the affairs in AKSHI and ARRSH.
" You will slander and you will no longer be prosecuted. You don't slander? Of course, because if you don't slander, those who employ you don't need you. It's enough to tell a half-truth and it's over ," said Rama, relativizing the concept of slander and using it as a pressure mechanism against the media.
But the truth is different. The decriminalization of defamation is not Rama’s personal initiative or an act of “generosity” towards journalists, but a repeated request from the European Union, the OSCE and the US State Department. These international institutions have consistently denounced the deterioration of the media climate in Albania, through political control over its ownership, the use of lawsuits as a weapon of intimidation and repeated attempts at legal censorship.
Currently, defamation remains part of the Criminal Code. Its Article 120 clearly states: " The intentional dissemination of statements, as well as any other information, knowing that they are false, that violate the honor and dignity of a person, constitutes a criminal offense and is punishable by a fine of 50 thousand to 1.5 million lek. If this offense is committed publicly or more than once, the fine goes up to 3 million lek ."
Criminal offense or not, one thing is clear: Rama is attempting to package external pressure as an act of political will, while in the Assembly's drawers are several internationally condemnable draft laws aimed at restricting online media and cracking down on independent portals.
Instead of respecting freedom of the press, the Albanian majority has chosen to manipulate the narrative and relativize one of the key points for the further opening of negotiations with the EU. Change will happen: but not because Rama "became generous", but because Europe is demanding and monitoring every step. /Pamphlet
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