FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Journalist Gjergj Erebara was attacked for reporting, then called an assassin for the same reason, and finally BIRN donors were threatened for a personal post. The attack follows the old pattern: delegitimization, defamation, financial pressure.
Attacks on journalists in Albania are never random. They follow a tried-and-true mechanism: they start with an unfounded accusation of bad journalism, escalate to personal defamation that puts the journalist out of his or her profession, and culminate in financial pressure on the media outlet he or she works for. This pattern is not aimed at just one person. It aims to send a message to all who might feel encouraged to do the same, and to all newsrooms that might think that independence has a lower price than the one BIRN is paying.
Gjergj Erebara was drawn into this mechanism without asking for it. His job as a BIRN journalist has always been to report the facts, verify sources and hold the authorities accountable for what they do. BIRN is not a media outlet that fills the front pages with shocking headlines, but there is something that makes it dangerous: credibility. When BIRN reports, others take it seriously, and this is precisely what makes it unsuitable for those who live on half-truths and closed accounts.
It all started on June 25, when CNN broadcast footage from Kakomeja and several senior government officials accused the American network of damaging Albanian tourism. Erebara read the original story and noticed something that others had missed in their rush to accuse: CNN had failed to link the footage to tourism projects. This small, factual, and dry detail was made public and was the first remark to disrupt the official narrative on the issue. It was not a political statement, it was a simple correction, but in a climate where any voice that does not match the official version is treated as dissent, Erebara became inappropriate.
Gjergj Luca i lepihet qeverisë nga mëngjesi deri në mbrëmje, së bashku me një grusht analistësh të cilët i paguan me supe peshku dhe i rreshton çdo herë për të përsëritur të njëjtat fraza të urdhëruara nga qendra. Më 8 korrik, Luca zgjodhi të hynte në politikë me një video ku fyen protestuesit duke u thënë se janë hiçër, sikur shqetësimet e tyre për pronat e shtetit që po grabiteshin me 1 euro të kishin më pak vlerë se sa mendimi i një biznesmeni që ushqehet nga i njëjti pushtet. Kur mijëra qytetarë iu përgjigjën me vlerësime negative në Google, Luca nuk e pranoi peshën e provokimit të tij. Vrapoi te policia, e ktheu një çështje lirie të shprehjes në një hetim penal dhe ia doli që Policia e drejtuar nga Skënder Hita të fliste për një rrjet kriminal prej 10 mijë llogarish pa paraqitur asnjë provë, por duke krijuar atmosferën e përsosur për të cilën çdo kritikë ndaj biznesit të lidhur me pushtetin të cilësohej si pjesë e një fushate terroriste.
Më 10 korrik, Erebara publikoi në Reporter.al një shkrim që nuk ishte propagandë dhe as opinion, por raportim i pastër. Katër zëra të pavarur kundërshtonin qasjen e policisë: Rigels Xhemollari nga Qëndresa Qytetare e quajti deklaratën të rrezikshme dhe joprofesionale, Orkidea Xhaferaj nga SCiDEV shpjegoi se koordinimi dhe masiviteti nuk mjaftojnë për ta bërë një veprim të paligjshëm, gazetari Isa Myzyraj nga Asociacioni i Gazetarëve Shqiptarë tha se pretendimi për 10 mijë llogari pa prova ishte deklaratë politike, jo institucionale. Erebara nuk shkroi asnjë fjalë të tijën, ai raportoi atë që këta njerëz thanë.
Më 11 korrik, Mero Baze e quajti Erebaren jo më gazetar, por atentator që nxit terror mbi biznesin. Shkrimi u ribotua në disa portale dhe Baze pretendoi gjithashtu se BIRN mbahet nën kontrollin e një rrethi familjar dhe se Ambasada e SHBA-së i kishte ndërprerë grantet, por asnjë nga këto pretendime nuk është konfirmuar nga burime të pavarura dhe mbeten në fushën e spekulimeve të pandëshkueshme. Më 12 korrik, Luca kërkoi falje publike, e quajti Erebaren pseudo gazetar dhe kërkoi që ai t'u kërkonte falje mijëra punëtorëve. Luca nuk kërkoi korrigjim të asnjë fakti, të asnjë shifre, të asnjë date. Kërkoi vetëm falje, sepse qëllimi nuk ishte të vërteta, por nënshtrimi dhe pranimi publik i fajit për një gjë që askush nuk e kishte provuar kurrë.
Kryeministri Rama e cilësoi fushatën skemë kriminale dhe deklaroi se Google po ndihmonte t'u ktheheshin bizneseve vlerësimet. Por kur Radio Evropa e Lirë i kërkoi Google përgjigje nëse kishte vërejtur aktivitet të pazakontë në Shqipëri, Google nuk u përgjigj dhe asnjë konfirmim i pavarur i tezës qeveritare nuk ekziston ende.
On July 15, Erebara posted on his personal account an AI-edited photo mocking Taulant Balla’s drone footage, writing that the photo was an artistic creation and did not reflect a real post. It was satire, political humor, and an exercise of his right as a citizen to criticize. Taulant Balla did not respond to the satire. He called Erebara a forger and moved on to the money. He publicly held the Open Society Foundations, the Swedish Development Agency, and foreign embassies accountable, asking them if this is the journalism they are funding.
This is the moment when the attack went from personal to institutional. Erebara was hit for a personal post, but the blow was directed at BIRN’s donors. It was a clear message to any independent media outlet. BIRN has not issued a single correction during this entire period, has not retracted any article, and has not bowed down, because Erebara’s writings have been accurate, his sources verified, and his reporting balanced.
Erebara is a journalist at BIRN and at the same time an activist and independent journalist on his personal platforms, but these two roles are not in conflict. Journalists have the right to have opinions outside of working hours, to satire and to be citizens. The attack on Erebara does not respect this distinction and deliberately mixes it up to attack BIRN through the journalist and to threaten the editorial staff through its funding. This attack is not a random clash on the network, but a well-known pattern that is being implemented with precision.
Gjergj Luca is not just a businessman who felt hurt. Luca is the businessman who provokes, then cries, then demands an apology and then joins the smear campaign to call Erebara a pseudo-journalist and assassin. He insulted the protesters by calling them nothing, but when they responded, he did not accept the gravity of what he had started and ran to the police to defend himself. Gjergj Erebara is not one of those journalists that Luca sits at the table and gives moral lectures, because Erebara does not have to apologize to the looters of state property for 1 euro and suspects of international drug trafficking.
Erebara came to the defense of the citizens that Luca insulted with the same ease he uses when washing at the feet of the government. Luca is not a victim. Luca is part of a mechanism that uses business as a political weapon and the police as a means to punish those who do not bow to it. /Pamphlet
E bukur! Më pëlqeu logjika e shkrimit.