Over the last 12 months, I have written extensively about Albania on this blog. I have talked about food, culture, people, travel, and the things that I love about this country. I do this in my own time, for free and I cover all of the costs such as web design, domain hosting and other fees out of my own pocket. Furthermore I organise community clean ups, fundraising events, and undertake charity work- all of my own accord. I do it because I love Albania, I love living here, and I felt that there was a need for a positive voice talking about the country to help dispel some of the myths.
Over the last 12 months, my following has grown exponentially and I have got to know this country and its people a lot better. I receive hundreds of messages from Albanians here and abroad who tell me their stories and their struggles but also praise the work I do in writing about this beautiful county.
But I am not just a blogger, I am a journalist as well and I have spent several years writing about corruption in various countries. This is my job as well as my passion, my work as blogger is something I do for fun. Having decided to live here, marry here, and raise a family here, when I see injustices served upon the country and its people, as well as injustices that affect my life and future, it is my duty and my job to speak out. I deal with facts, reports, statements, comments, investigations and sources that can be independently verified and I report on them because I know that sweeping injustice under the carpet betrays a whole nation and halts the chance of change.
I write about the good, the bad, and the ugly, but expecting me to not comment on matters that are widely available in the public domain across countless international news portals is bordering on the ridiculous. As a human being, I have the right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression, both of which allow me to pass comment on current affairs and news stories. These are core, fundamental and intrinsic human rights that are bestowed upon me by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and both the Constitution and the Laws of Albania. In addition to this, my right as a journalist to comment and report on facts is upheld globally by countless human rights organisations, independent press and media watchdogs, and again the European Union.
Under these rules I have every right to pass comment to who I choose on whatever topic I choose as long as what I say is based on facts, evidence, or cites other reports that are based on such. When I made comments to RT on Saturday, I merely spoke about information that is readily available on a number of portals internationally, as well as locally. I said nothing new, nothing fabricated, nothing baseless, and nothing that was anything other than a statement of the facts. This is not illegal, nor is this immoral or unethical; and it is my decision what I say and who I say it to.
Unfortunately as a result of my exercising of my fundamental human rights, I have been targeted by an illegal and defamatory campaign of misinformation. The comments, allegations, and reports about me on a couple of local tabloid sites are in violation of the criminal and civil code in Albania as they are not based in fact and there is no evidence to support them whatsoever. This campaign of misinformation has been designed to intimidate and discredit me from reporting the truth by making libellous statements against myself and my partner- note that they have made personal attacks against me, and not anything about the content of my comments.
Just to set the record straight on a few things:
- I am not and have not ever been linked to/paid by/associated with/ or on the payroll of any Russian entity/media organisation/politician/company/or other.
- My work has been republished on Tsarizm (you can find the statement from the owner here) but I have never worked for them in any capacity and the articles they used, they took from Exit.al. This was done in much the same way as Gazeta Tema, AlpeNews, JavaNews and Lexo.al took and republished my work from this site on countless occassions- something that is actually illegal and they did not have my permission to do.
- Tzarism is owned by an American Navy veteran who is not linked to any Russian entity or party in any way, nor is he funded by anyone linked to Russia.
- Yuri Vanetik who has been accused of sitting on the board of Tsarizm, is Ukranian not Russian, wrote one article about the Ukraine many years ago for the site, has no link to Russia and was himself, the target of a propaganda campaign that was subsequently debunked.
- My partner is not and was not paid by Luzlim Basha to be a bodyguard. He attends protests in the capacity as his right to assemble and protest, the fact that he is taller than most of the crowd and stands out does not mean that he is paid to be there in a protective or otherwise capacity.
As a result of the campaign of lies coordinated against me, I, and others named in the defamatory statements, have decided to take legal action in the courts in Albania. This is not just because what has been said about me is illegal and wrong, but because no journalist or member of civil society in this country should feel threatened or scared to speak up for fear of being treated in the same way. Every individual in Albania has the right to criticise, question, investigate and report on corruption and injustice and they have the right to attend protests without fear of it being used against them or their family at a later date.
I am taking legal action because I believe that the unscrupulous behaviour of propagandists in this country poses a significant threat to freedom of speech and media freedom and this is something I cannot allow to happen. Despite this behaviour being illegal, I note that many journalists do not pursue legal recourse when it comes to intimidation, libel, harassment, or threats against them- this needs to change. I am not scared of these people and I am not deterred from continuing my work- quite the opposite, I will ensure that both my positive and critical stories off Albania reach an even wider and more international audience- if anything this attack on me has motivated me more. I will hold these hacks accountable for their actions and defamations in the hope that it is one small step towards a freer Albania for its citizens and journalists.
I would like to extend my thanks to the countless messages of support I have received both locally and internationally, and I would also like to thank the news portals that spread lies about me for the thousands of additional hits both my website, and the stories I have written have received. But do note that anything that is said about me that is untrue, defamatory, and illegal will be screenshotted, logged, tracked and filed as evidence in the lawsuit that is being compiled as I write this.
You are free to criticise my work, my opinions and the topics I choose to write about, but breaking the law in order to intimidate and harass is not acceptable. Albania deserves better than behaviour like this from bullies instructed by those on the payroll of the state.
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