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The Constitutional Court accepts journalist Qyno's request for the subject of the lawsuit

Politiko 2025-03-19 15:47:27

The Constitutional Court accepts journalist Qyno's request for the subject

The Constitutional Court accepted during a short hearing the request of the lawyer of journalist Elton Qyno to change the subject of the lawsuit, adding the request for the deletion of virtual copies of the phones that were seized. As an interested party, SPAK requested time to argue on the change.

The Constitutional Court accepted during a brief session on Wednesday the request of lawyer Dorian Matlija, representing Ora News journalist Elton Qyno, to change the subject of the lawsuit, adding the request to delete virtual copies of phones that were seized by decision of the Special Court in December 2023.

Qyno has appealed to the Constitutional Court the decisions of the Special Court regarding the seizure of electronic devices owned by him, the search of his home and the personal search following an investigation launched by SPAK for the disclosure of investigative secrets.

In the lawsuit, Qyno seeks the annulment of the decisions that led to these decisions, describing them as violations of freedoms and human rights. Lawyer Matlija said that the seizure of electronic devices and their virtual copies violated the freedom of the journalist and risked exposing sources. At the hearing, Matlija submitted a request for a change of facility, adding that after they were made aware of the existence of virtual copies of data on the phones, their destruction was also requested.

The court, after a short recess, accepted this request, considering it related to previous requests for the annulment of the court decisions that led to the seizure.

Representatives of the Special Prosecution Office, Bledar Maksuti and Olsi Dado, requested time to respond to the new request. The court accepted the request and postponed the hearing to April 2, while giving the parties time to submit written responses until March 26.

Journalist Elton Qyno was questioned in December 2023 for leaking materials from an investigative file on a series of serious crimes to the media, and after a search of his home, the Prosecution seized his mobile phones and electronic devices. Qyno has opposed the decision as a violation of his rights as a journalist.

In November last year, the Special Court imposed the mandatory appearance measure on Qynon for the offense of passive corruption in the private sector, based on a proceeding registered by the Special Prosecution Office for the criminal organization led by Suel Çela. In January, the Special Court of Appeal overturned the security measure imposed by the first instance./BIR