Protest-Concert in Skënderbej Square
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Last Friday, April 13, approximately 50,000 Albanians responded to the Prime Minister’s attacks on the media through a peaceful manifestation in “Skenderbej Square”, thereby marking the largest manifestation ever witnessed in Albania since the rise of the pluralist system. This manifestation was not coordinated by political parties; rather, it was jointly organized by civil society and the media.
By simultaneously raising their hands and emphatically screaming Mjaft! to each governmental attempt to bring the independent media down to its knees, the protestors primarily demonstrated, in the capital’s main square, their respect for the media and for the freedom of speech that was reestablished 17 years ago. Erion Veliaj, Mjaft!’s Executive Director, spoke both to the people present in the square and to the millions of viewers that watched this manifestation live on TV. “Imagine an Albania without free speech; imagine a country where thousands of people lose their jobs and have no media to turn to in order to report and denounce such an encroachment on freedom; imagine a country where businesses go bankrupt and foreign enterprises pull out; imagine, if there was no media, all these problems would go unnoticed", he said for the TV cameras. |
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