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OPINEWS

SPAK as editor-in-chief: The new manual of the investigative journalist, open your mouth, get permission, then write

Politiko 2025-04-09 19:58:13

SPAK as editor-in-chief: The new manual of the investigative journalist, open
By Flamur Vezaj
The representatives of Chief Prosecutor Altin Dumani in the Constitutional Court, Prosecutor Bledar Maksutaj, together with his colleague Ols Dado, presented themselves as two knights of the constitutional order, or more precisely, as “advocates of the new media morality”. At the center of their attack was not a criminal group, but a journalist: Elton Qyno. And the weapon they used? Well, an entire arsenal: isolation for hours in the SPAK offices, searches of the apartment, the car, the workplace, even children's toys were considered potentially “with criminal influence”. Because, as we already know, any journalist who writes without permission can erase evidence with the help of a children's toy car…
But the culminating spectacle began in the hall of the Constitutional Court, a few days ago, where the two prosecutors turned into journalism teachers and invented a new rule of the game: before writing a news story, you must get permission from SPAK. Yes, yes. Journalists, according to them, should line up like students in front of the editorial board of the Special Prosecutor's Office and seek approval for every sentence.
When the judge, with a curiosity that does not dare to appear often in this system, asked:
– “Is there any legal provision that requires such a thing?”
The prosecutor, with a certainty that makes you doubt the nature of legal education in the country, replied:
– “No, Madam President. But we are dealing with an ethical obligation…”
Ah, ethics! The magic word that is used whenever the law ends and the imagination begins. With this justification, you can seize everything, including laptops, cell phones, and maybe next time even the journalist's RAM memory. Because “in the name of ethics” everything is permissible according to SPAK!
The irony does not stop there: in an “Oscar-worthy” moment, the prosecutor explained that the journalist, being “old and experienced”, should have sensed for himself that he was the subject of an investigation. That is, in Albania no one notifies you of an investigation, you have to have an internal antenna, an app in your soul that pings you when you are under surveillance.
Another gem: the prosecutor calmly admitted that he has no competence to take measures against “ethical violations”, because legally they have no right – but that did not stop them from seizing, isolating, and exerting pressure as if they had an enemy of the state on their hands. Yes, the prosecution has no competence for ethics – but apparently, when it comes to journalists, one suspicion is enough and the parade begins.
So, in summary: if you are a journalist and you have information, you do not have the right to publish it without first asking the office of an “expert” in the prosecutor’s office. If you publish it, you will end up in some “SPAK Studios” scenario, with investigation, seizing and sometimes even analysis of children’s toys for a USB hidden inside.
In this battle for free speech, the Constitutional Court has become an arena where not only the fate of Elton Qynos is decided, but of every journalist who dares to have a laptop, a microphone and a question unconfirmed by the “ethicists” of justice.
Tomorrow is the decisive day: the last word in this process will be either a statement in defense of free media, or an official seal that SPAK will not only prosecute, but also edit, approve, and perhaps tomorrow publish the next editorial instead of the editorials.
Colleagues, don't miss it! Because next time, if this passes, your news will start with: “Title awaiting prosecutor's approval. The article will continue as soon as SPAK's ethics give the green light.”