Sebi Alla – Amid debates and objections from the opposition and interest groups, mainly organizations protecting journalists, the Albanian Parliament approved in the early hours of Wednesday morning the government’s proposals for amendments to the Criminal Code to decriminalize defamation, specifically Article 120.
With 85 votes in favor, no abstentions and 10 against, the changes were approved, while as part of this draft, the proposals of DP MP Jorida Tabaku were rejected.
The majority decided with its own proposal (without prior consultation) to keep the offense of defamation in the Criminal Code, but to add an exception from this penalty for registered journalists.
More specifically, the appendix to Article 120 provides: “A journalist, employed or self-employed, registered and recognized as such in accordance with the legislation in force, regardless of citizenship or the place where the activity is carried out, shall not be held criminally liable for the offense of defamation under this Article, for the dissemination in good faith of data/statements or any other information, through the press, audiovisual media, electronic media or other public communication platforms.”
The definition of “registered” and “known”, although followed by the phrase “with the legislation in force”, remains unspecified in legislation or other regulations in the media sector.
Civil society
At the initiative of SCiDEV , in a civil society statement (January 22) on the decriminalization of defamation, it is stated, among other things, that, ” Albania does not have a legal system for registering journalists and should not have one, as the creation of a registry would conflict with European standards of freedom of expression and would risk the establishment of mechanisms for controlling or filtering the exercise of the profession.”
Referring to the statement, ” there is a risk that this provision may not be enforceable by the courts and, at the same time, pave the way for efforts to create a formal registry, with serious consequences for media pluralism and the independence of journalism…”
“The numerous preconditions and unclear wording make its implementation practically impossible, leading to a lack of decriminalization in practice, even in partial form,” the statement said .
Even the Chairman of the Albanian Media Council, Koloreto Cukali, tells Faktoje that besides some improvements, the amended article also brings absurdities.
“There are things that are simply products of the mediocrity and ignorance of those who proposed it, such as the registration of journalists, which are simply absurd, inapplicable, contrary to human rights, European legislation, and contrary to what Europe expects from the will and interest of the journalist community.”
“It will be reopened and re-sewn again (the article) based on the way they built it,” he notes.
PLATFORM
The initiative, approved only with the votes of the Socialist Party, comes after a lengthy public consultation process (since January of last year) of several civil society organizations, media organizations, journalists, experts from the Assembly, and government representatives for the complete decriminalization of defamation and insult.
Referring to the joint civil society statement held on January 22, “ the new approach (of the SP) deviated from the initial objective of the consultative process and was not in line with the long-standing recommendations of civil society and the journalistic community, which have consistently called for equal protection of freedom of expression for all individuals, linked to the nature of the expression and the public interest it serves, and not to the professional status of the speaker.”
At the end of this entire process, Koloreto Cukali notes that a version was approved in the Assembly that had not gone through any of the previous consultation processes.
Mutual trust, according to him, is lost.
“And this is the most worrying problem for me,” he tells Faktoje.
SP
But for the Socialist Party, the process ultimately concluded with an initiative within the framework of the tasks that the EU has set for Albania.
During the presentation of the draft law in the Assembly, the Minister of Justice, Besfort Lamallari, said that the changes are part of the European integration process. “From everything that has been mentioned here (parliament), it was said that the European Commission was not consulted or that the EC opposed it. It is completely untrue. Not too long ago they expressed themselves regarding the decriminalization of defamation for journalists who encourage the Albanian government,” said Minister Lamallari.
The Chairman of the Laws Committee, Ulsi Manja, also underlined that , “the additions and changes we present are not an ordinary legislative act, but a necessary step in the process of harmonizing Albanian legislation with the EU.”
DP
The position of DP MP Jorida Tabaku was different. “The Criminal Code will be used as a threat to journalists to select those journalists who will be threatened with prison and those others who will be allowed to continue to slander, insult, intimidate. This is not European Albania. This is not a normal country. Macedonia has it, Montenegro has it, Kosovo has it. Defamation has been completely decriminalized. Meanwhile, the Albanian government still uses it as a threat,” said Tabaku.
Ulsi Manja, on the other hand, justified the preservation of Article 120 in the Criminal Code as a protective measure against online portals. “Journalists who deal with the news, with the truth, should not worry. Professionals of defamation should worry, there is no law that protects the professional who defames. 800 portals, professional defamers should face the force of the law.”
OSCE
A few hours after the approval, the OSCE presence in Tirana praised the changes to the Criminal Code, which it said were an important first step towards strengthening freedom of expression, but suggested that: “… we continue to encourage the full decriminalization of defamation and the use of proportionate civil measures.”
The problem remains.
Both claims, both about the decriminalization of defamation and that the changes were made according to EU guidelines, are viewed with skepticism by media representatives.
The Director of the Academy of Political Studies, Erjon Tase, in a statement to Faktoje.al, considers this change to the Criminal Code incomplete, not in the spirit of the EC recommendations and which again leaves room for the continuation of criminal charges against journalists.
“This voted version of the amendment to Article 120, on the offense of Defamation, does not meet the several-year-old request of local organizations and international institutions to decriminalize defamation,” says Tase.
According to him, “the Albanian authorities ‘completed the framework’ of a request to the European Commission, but in practice we will continue to have criminal charges against journalists until the standard for being called such is determined.”
precedent
Seen in this spirit, Tase raises the concern that further recommendations that arrive as a condition for the process of our country’s integration into the EU may be made without touching the essence.
“This is a bad sign that in this fictitious way, other standards required in the European integration process in the field of the environment, food safety and any other important sector can be met,” emphasizes Tase.
Activists and citizens
Also, another concern raised by communication experts is that this law does not exclude from decriminalization activists or citizens who act in the public interest.
“The jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and practice in the European Union have established the need to ensure freedom of expression not only for professional journalists, but for any activist or citizen acting in the public interest,” says Tase.
He brings to attention that this article will continue to be a criminal threat to any civil society activist or citizen who dares to publish, under his or her identity, a public denunciation of senior officials in traditional media or even on social networks.
“It still remains unclear what the arguments of the legislators are for not giving up on keeping this article in the Criminal Code, as well as the insult article. Both of these offenses have been recommended for years to be transferred to the Civil Code. Current practices guarantee that civil remedies are sufficient to protect the reputation of any individual, especially politicians or high-ranking officials,” Tase emphasizes.
