FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Opposition parties have reacted to a case that is both dangerous and unprecedented for democratic countries, of a media outlet being surrounded by police and journalists not being allowed to enter the work premises, as happened on Saturday morning with News24.
The Secretary General of the Democratic Party, Flamur Noka, describes the police siege of the media group as a "barbaric act"
"Ramaduro's drug-regime, before dawn, rushed the phalanxes of the drug-state to seize the News24 media outlet. Dozens of police and tax forces have been stationed at the entrance to News24 as they once were at the doors of Agon Channel. Ramaduro's dictatorial act against media outlets that do not submit to him will receive a response from the opposition, as the sole defender of freedom and a free press in a #NATO member country and candidate for the EU," Noka says.
He has called on citizens in Tirana to go to the News24 building to express solidarity with the media and to denounce what he calls a "dictatorial act against freedom of speech" in a NATO member country and candidate for EU membership.
Meanwhile, DP MP Jorida Tabaku says that this is the true face of the government.
She says that a power that controls everything, but when it cannot buy or blackmail, uses force.
"When regimes are afraid of the truth, they send the police to the doors of the media. Just like what is happening today in early August, when police forces appeared in front of News24, without a court order, with scenes of violence that only befit an autocratic state. This is the true face of the government: a power that controls everything, but when it cannot buy or blackmail, it uses force. The siege of News24 is not just pressure on the media - it is an open attack on democracy. A candidate country for the EU cannot treat the media like this. The European Union does not accept countries where the press is beaten, where journalists are threatened and where the truth is trampled on. Today it is News 24, tomorrow it can be any free voice. And then there will be no one left to speak," said Tabaku.
Also, Dhurata Çupi writes in a post on social media that violence against News24 is violence against free media.
"From violence on the streets, to violence over words."
News 24 is closing. One less voice, one more censorship.
The closure of News 24 is a serious blow to media freedom and citizens' right to be informed.
A place where televisions are silenced, where critical voices are silenced one after another, a dictatorial regime is clearly installed.
This is the reality where the government tries to control every media and where media pluralism little by little risks becoming a memory. Silence today for News 24 is silence for every media that could suffer the same fate tomorrow. Therefore, a social reaction is needed”, emphasizes Çupi.
Meanwhile, Tedi Blushi, Secretary General of the PL, emphasizes that this is an "armed aggression by Ramaduro", carried out without transparency and without a court decision, calling it a "criminal act against free speech, worthy of the darkest dictatorial regimes."
"The armed aggression of "Ramaduro" against the media and in particular against journalists of "News24", "BalkanWeb", "Panorama" and "Gazeta Shqiptare", without transparency and without any court decision, who are even prevented from forcibly entering their work premises, is a pure criminal act against free speech, worthy of the darkest dictatorial regimes, but long-warned," Blushi said.
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