TI warns Albania on TemA newspaper closure

TIRANA, Jan 22 – The Transparency International head for its Europe department, Miklosh Marschall sent a letter to Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha expressing his concern on the government’s unilateral end of the contract with TemA private newspaper.
The letter said that “we at Transparency International are very much concerned about the recent eviction of the daily newspaper TEMA from its premises in Tirana.”
The letter said they had learnt that the Minister of Economical Affairs cancelled unilaterally and without any further notice the newspaper’s 20-year-old contract for the premises. An unexpected police siege followed and the staff of the newspaper was evicted from their offices. The police gave no official explanation.
“We understand there is a legal dispute about the contract; nevertheless, we believe an eviction as long as the dispute is not yet settled by a final court decision is not warranted,” he wrote.
Moreover, as far as we know, the most recent court decision is in favor of the newspaper.
The eviction of TEMA, which has frequently criticized official corruption, is regarded by many as a sign of the growing political pressure against critical voices in the media.
Marschall continued to say that he was directly writing to the premier whom he had met last year “and I was impressed by your clear and well articulated commitment to fight corruption in Albania. As you know, free and independent media is one of the basic conditions to combat corruption effectively,” he said.
“If journalists feel intimidated when carrying out their jobs, one of the most important pillars of good governance and accountability systems will be weakened.”
Marschall urged to launch an investigation into this matter to demonstrate that it takes the fight against corruption seriously and is ready to protect press freedom in Albania.