TIRANA, Sep. 1 – Adi Krasta and Ylli Rakipi, two prominent journalists and critics of Prime Minister Rama and Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj, were fired and their programs on News24 TV channel terminated.
Various sources have reported that Krasta lost his job after News24 owner Irfan Hysenbelliu was put under pressure by Rama and Veliaj.
In July, journalist Artur Cani revealed that Rama had met the owner of News24 to ask for the dismissal of Rakipi. Cani also warned the firing of Adi Krasta from News24.
In a statement to FaxNews, Çani said Rama had met Hysenbelliu for this reason.
“It is outrageous to find out that Edi Rama this week met with the media owner for Ylli Rakipi, who is a critic of the Socialist Party, and demanded his dismissal.”
He added that “Rama has seized the media,” saying he has acted in a similar manner for other journalists who have been critical towards him.
This is not the first time Krasta finds herself unemployed as a result of political interference.
During the two terms of the Socialist government, Krasta has been fired or lost his job two more times because of the ultimatums the government has made to his employers. The first time was the termination of Agon Channel due to Rama’s insistence, when he had just come to power. Then Krasta was forced to leave the “Sunday” show on Top Channel.
Rakipi, who also seems unlikely to air his program on News24, has been one of the biggest critics of the Rama government.
In November 2018 he exposed the scandal with the ghost company Dunwell Habberman, which won the Great Ring construction tender in Tirana. Following the denunciation, Rakipi was threatened with life, while in January 2019, Prime Minister Rama indicted that defamation in connection with the case. Since then, rumors have been circulating in the media that Rama was trying to shut down Rakipi’s program.
Rakipi has called Rama a “new type of dictator, like Erdogan or Putin” and filed a suit against him for political pressure.
He is reportedly to be replaced in News24 by journalist Sokol Balla.
Furthermore, journalists Alida Tota and Artan Rama were fired after investigating suspected links between Mayor Veliaj and the death of 17-year-old Ardit Gjoklaj at Sharra landfill, under the municipality control.
Rama’s documentary on Vision Plus was canceled just hours before the broadcast, while Tota was fired from A1 television just hours after she contacted Veliaj’s office for a comment on Gjoklaj’s death.
Albanian journalists, especially over the past 18 months, have faced unprecedented attacks at this rate. A large number of journalists have been threatened, assaulted, intimidated, or faced with litigation aimed at silencing them.
A recent poll showed that for Albanian journalists, the government is the biggest threat to media freedom, especially in regard to political interference and fears of losing their jobs. Most journalists admit that they censor their work themselves out of fear.
Almost 40 percent of journalists were pressured by their boss, and one-third claimed that their writing had been removed from the publication without anyone asking them.
