Freedom  of the media and information shall be observed

August 26, 2004 

In a letter addressed to some international bodies, institutions of the country and Albanian NPO-s, the editorial staff of “NEWS 24” disclosed the difficult situation this TV was in, due to the accreditation deprivation on the part of the Democratic Party. It states that for two months  “NEWS 24” TV journalists were forbidden to take part in the DP press conferences. This fact has also been confirmed in the DP Press Release dated 20.08.2004 which highlights the reasons why “NEWS 24” TV has been “deprived of accreditation right” from that party.

Albanian Helsinki Committee, as a non-governmental organization, the  mission of which has been and still is the observance of the citizens rights in all the fields, in the spirit of the principles that sanction in an unbiased and impartial way the freedom of press and information,  considers necessary to declare as follows:

1.  Without going into the assessment and the analysis of the reasons that according to the DP press release conditioned the attitude of the latter towards “NEWS 24” TV, AHC expresses  regretfully that in the concrete case, it has been openly violated the right of access to information that is guaranteed by article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, articles 22 and 23 of the Constitution of the  Republic of Albania etc. It is unacceptable in a democratic and pluralist society denying access to information to the print and electronic media and as a consequence denying access to broadcasting to the wide public the state, political and social activities. Such attitudes involve censure and discrimination elements.

2. By means of international instruments, in many cases certain governments have been called their attention to respect freedom of press, give access to information, be transparent and tolerant with the journalists.

AHC regretfully expresses that in the case of “NEWS 24” TV, the principle of access to information was violated by the largest opposition party.

3. On this occasion AHC considers worth mentioning that the long experience of the European Court of Human Rights shows how considerate and sensitive this Court has been in cases related to the violation of the freedom of press and information, sanctioned by article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights. It suffices to cite only two decisions reached by this Court. In one of them it is stated that: “Freedom of expression is one of the pillars of the democratic society. It can’t mean only the information and opinions positively perceived or considered as inoffensive, but also all those that insult, unease or   distress the state or a certain group of the society. Such are the criteria of pluralism and tolerance and transparency, without them a democratic society can’t exist”.

In the other decision of this Court it is stated that  “The freedom of the journalist entails the option to use at a certain level excessiveness and  provocation  as well”.

It is precisely the aforementioned reasons and concretely the observance of the principle of the freedom of press and information that AHC considers worth suggesting to the leaders of the Democratic Party in order to revise their attitude towards “NEWS 24” TV, to give them accreditation, and consequently treat this TV equally with the other print and electronic media.