The U.S. Embassy in Tirana has shared a statement from State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce regarding media freedom — a statement that comes at a time when Focus Group media outlets, including News24, BalkanWeb, Panorama, Gazeta Shqiptare, and Radio RASH, are facing unprecedented pressure and attempts to paralyze their journalistic operations.
Initially, the workplaces were seized, and then News24’s broadcast signal was cut off, while journalists have been denied access to their offices for six days. They have been left stranded and obstructed by the State Police, the Military Police, and employees of the state-owned arms production company, KAYO.
State Department statement:
“We consider freedom of expression to be a foundational component of a functioning democracy. Societies are strengthened by free expression of opinion, and government censorship is intolerable in a free society. Freedom of expression does remain under threat in many parts of the world, as outlined in the 2024 Human Rights Report. Governments continue to use censorship, arbitrary or unlawful surveillance, and restrictive laws against disfavored voices, often on political or religious grounds. And no matter, really, how disagreeable someone’s speech may be, criminalizing it or silencing it by force only serves as a catalyst for further hatred, suppression, and polarization”.
– Tammy Bruce, Department Spokesperson, August 12, 2025, Washington DC.
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(BalkanWeb)
