Journalists protest violence against editor

TIRANA, Nov 4 – Albanian journalists and others on Wednesday held a protest blaming the government for the violence against a prominent journalist and newspaper that drew international condemnation and concern for the country’s media freedoms.
Mero Baze, editor of the TemA independent newspaper that has become increasingly critical of conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha, was beaten unconscious by a businessman and his bodyguards.
Media associations collected a few hundred people in front of Berisha’s office asking him to take the ‘aggressor’ to justice, complaining of an increasing violence and pressure on them, and throwing shoes at the building at the end in a sign of protest.
Albanian journalists frequently complain of harassment by authorities.
Rezart Taci is still at large though he declared a day earlier he would be ready to face justice.
At the same time, the opposition Socialist Party asked the government to give account of the privatization process of the ARMO oil company a year ago.
Lawmaker Erjon Brace said that the ARMO privatization last year was one of the darkest acts of Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s family and a violation of fair competition. They asked for the origin and source of income of the companies making up the corporation that concluded the deal, which now it is being practically run by Thaci.