Journalist's beating stirs outrage, soul-searching

13/11/2009

A recent incident highlights shortcomings in media freedom.

By Manjola Hala for Southeast European Times in Tirana -- 13/11/09

Albanian journalists protest outside the government building in Tirana on November 4th. [Getty Images]

A physical assault on an investigative journalist has alarmed many Albanians.

During an episode of the news programme Faktori+, reporter Mero Baze accused businessman Rezart Taci of using government ties -- including Prime Minister Sali Berisha -- to evade taxes and privatise the ARMO oil company under dubious circumstances.

Later, the businessman allegedly chose to answer the charges with violence, assaulted Baze at a Tirana café with the help of two bodyguards.

The assault is the latest in a string of attacks against the outspoken journalist. In January, police attempted to close Baze's daily Tema, and in 2005 his BMW mysteriously exploded.

Taci now faces assault charges, but denies beating up Baze and counter-accuses him of slander.

While the Albanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry denounced the assault against Baze, it also seemed to blame him for speaking out. "Slander campaigns are damaging to foreign investments and to the country's image," it opined.

Meanwhile, 135 journalists protested in Tirana last week, and signed a petition requesting new media safety standards in Albania.

That may be an uphill battle. Reporters without Borders ranked Albania 88th in the world this year, nine positions below last year's ranking. It said investigative journalism in Albania is "struggling to find room in a press belonging either to industrial groups determined to protect their spheres of influence, or to political parties that too often confuse news with propaganda".

Now bloggers are joining the debate. Alproud captures the majority view, calling the attack "hideous and costly for Albania and its image", a part of a "dangerous game" in which there are no winners. Keiendi believes the situation is "shockingly similar to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's republic".

Some blame Baze for his own predicament, or question his allegations against Taci. "If Baze's accusations against Taci were true," writes Kenyestrim.fr, "he would have gone to prison."

Not necessarily, Keiendi retorts. Journalists bring the details of the case to light, while the prosecution goes after the facts to bring criminals to justice. Courts are an arena for another assessment about what a journalist publishes.

"Punches are the absence of arguments in the contest," he concludes.

Berti sums up the general consensus. Baze, he writes, is "among the media persons that paid [suffered] more than anyone in his profession". This can happen only to a person who served society and not the government, he concludes.