Speech by Prime Minister at today’s plenary session of Assembly:
Let me apologize in advance for merging the two topics into one speech, because I can’t avoid the top priority, that is addressing the consequences of the Nov 26 natural disaster and the rebuilding needs and I would of course make a comment on the anti-defamation law.
First and foremost, again I would like to express my sense of pride in the cabinet I head and our ruling majority, in all cabinet members, lawmakers, and mayors, who have been in the front line of efforts to cope with the tragic consequences of the devastating earthquake that hit the country on November 26.
I don’t know if anyone would have imagined that the government of Albania, the Albanian state would ever succeed in doing what they did under circumstances of an incredibly extreme surprise, with thousands of people found themselves on the street and homeless.
Albania has been previously hit by much more minor natural disasters, but people have been left completely forgotten to rot on streets and tents and it has taken a long time for them to recover.
In less than ten days, more than 13,000 individuals have been accommodated in housing conditions that no resident of the Republic of Albania has been ever provided with in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
A total of 4132 people of various social categories have been housed in hotels that are considered luxurious according to Albanian standards, being provided all hospitality services as if they were German or Norwegian tourists, including also the constant health care and actions to make sure continuation of normal life, starting with the children’s normal school attendance.
Some 3452 households and 202 university students have been granted rental bonus to rent a house of their choice and keep up living as normally.
For a total of 6178 people in the countryside, who righteously are unable to abandon the land of their completely ruined or seriously damaged houses, care has been guaranteed, while process of meeting their demands for winter tents is underway.
The damage assessment process goes on intensively and a total of 19776 buildings have been inspected for earthquake-related damages to date. This is the number of buildings checked until yesterday.
A total of 56 buildings have been demolished to date, 49 of which in Durres, 4 in Tirana, 3 in Lezha. The entire dormitory compound at the Agricultural University is in a process of demolition.
It would suffice to take a look at the figures on specific health care delivered to all these people in order to figure out what epochal transformation has been made in the state’s capacities to address needs of the disaster-affected people.
A total of 257 social workers and psychologists have been employed in a whole network coordinated by the Minister of Health, whom I avail myself of this opportunity to thank once again and express respect for her hard work and who, together with 340 physicians and dedicated nurses provide 24/7 health care to all disaster-affected individuals.
All families of earthquake victims have moved to new houses by December 15, as we had pledged, while the government has approved a special financial treatment for them.
This is a general picture. Meanwhile, work is underway to draft the new development plans. Thanks to the great solidarity among Albanians, significant funds have been raised, either via the online platform made available by the government, or via the renowned charity organizations, namely “Albanians for Albanians” “Different Weekend” Foundation, Albanian Roots fundraiser etc. But, like never before, all necessary stakeholders have come together at one single table to move a rebuilding program forward from which we will emerge stronger than prior to the earthquake, while every quake-affected family and individual will benefit a new life quality. And we will press ahead with the rebuilding program by concentrating, coordinating, guaranteeing all available resources in full transparency.
I am confident that we shall soon start seeing the initial shoots of this reconstruction process and very soon will figure out the huge difference between the past prior to the Nov 26 earthquake and the future of all these families. Very soon everyone will see the complete urban and social transformation from Thumane to the remotest house of the affected families within the perimeter of the state of emergency.
Work will continue intensively with a group of leading foreign and Albanian architects and a large number of Albanian experts to make sure that the new residential neighbourhoods due to be built become transforming examples, not only for the benefiting families, but also for the further direction of a radical transformation in view of an urban renaissance that will transform socially the lives of many communities and families.
The tomorrow’s Thumane won’t look like and will have nothing in common with Thumane prior to the Nov 26 earthquake and local residents, from degraded area in urban terms, will live in an area that will become a model in urban terms, not only here, but an example that would radiate the power of our vision across Albania’s borders.
Do not forget these words and we will all be here, not in 2030, but you will see them materialized in 2020.
I won’t elaborate further on this topic, because it is something I deal with from dawn till late at night, when many of you have gone to bed, and instead I would comment on the artificially heated topic of today and before going over the law’s aspects, I would provide the international context for you to clearly figure out the world we live in today and clearly understand what we are talking about and our position vis-à-vis the rest of the world.
First, to let everyone know that here we are in front of a crowd that does not read and who does not even deserve to read and even openly says, “we do not care what is written on the law, we do not want the law, because every law violates our freedom.”
According to an OSCE Report, in three fourth, or in 42 out of 57 OSCE member states, insult and defamation are criminal offenses. A thorough analysis of the legislation of the 28 member states of the European Union prior to drafting the media law, it turns out that three approaches are currently adopted to insult and defamation. First, 20 member states, namely Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands stipulate insult and defamation as a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment.
Second, five countries, namely Cyprus, Ireland, Great Britain, Romania and Estonia, do not consider insult and defamation a criminal offense, but regulate it through the civil law, and Great Britain is the Council of Europe member that imposes the maximum fine estimated at 200,000 pounds.
Third, three EU member states, namely Bulgaria, Croatia and France consider defamation a criminal offence and it is punished by the imposition of a fine and it is not punishable by imprisonment.
The Federal Republic of Germany has the strictest legislation on insult and defamation among the EU member states.
Germany’s Criminal Code defines 11 criminal offenses for insult and defamation and Germany happens to be the country where there is less defamation and less insult.
Civil liability for defamation and insult is regulated according to the model of countries that have a separate law, from Kosovo, to Northern Macedonia, to the UK, Ireland. While states like Croatia, Austria and Luxembourg have adopted general laws that include serious provisions for insult and defamation.
In October 2018, due to the social media’s growing impact on the social, cultural, economic and political aspects of the EU member states, the Albanian legislation on the audio-visual media complies and is fully aligned with the EU Directive and the law has been reviewed and updated.
The National Assembly of France has passed a law against the fake news. The law was conceived by the President of France and it creates new very strict rules, allowing authorities to ban false material and order immediate removal of fake news disseminated via the social media and even block access of the countries that publish it, and disclose the sponsored content during the five months before an election as a super strict discipline.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States intervenes without a court order and shuts down any website and any sort of content that is deemed threatening in many aspects.
Germany has adopted a law aimed at improving enforcement of the existing law on the social media. The German law represents the most successful attempt to remove the potentially harmful internet content.
Let’s now talk about Albania’s case. This whole work materialized by the EU member states and our entire enthusiasm to draft a law in full compliance with the legislation of these countries was initially met with a barrier by the EU, OSCE and Council of Europe representatives in the form of a single sentence: “Do not refer to these states as they have very strict laws in place. These are not the examples to follow.”
Whereas, if German law would focus on those gathering in front of the parliament, they would all be paying the indefinite amount of debt as a result of human rights abuses.
They are violators of the human rights.
They are violators of the fundamental human rights, because a man’s integrity should not be threatened publicly.
They are violators of the fundamental human rights in democracy as they violate the man’s right to launch his business.
They are violators of the society’s rights to be protected from the catastrophic consequences from the fake news and defamation.
An innocent man died died on November 26 just because of the activity of those protesting at the parliament’s door today. A father died and dozens were injured because someone of those outside published a news story according to it the regional hospital in Durres was collapsing and it was that news story that turned Durres hospital from a place where care is provided to save lives and heal severe wounds into the crossroads of chaos, with doctors, nurses, family members and patients seeking to go outside the hospital immediately. Well, the negative effect of the irresponsible speculations reaches that far. Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom to say whatever you want means also responsibility. It is not only a right, but it is also responsibility.
What about those outside who published news story alleging that government was hiding the bodies of 100 dead people in the hospital’s mortuary, triggering a chaotic situation with families that, for one reason or another, had lost contact with their family members.
I am providing very fresh cases. I am not talking about myself. I am not talking about my family. I’m not talking about my mother either. I’m not talking about our daughter or my son, I’m not talking about Ditmir Bushati’s parents either. I’m not talking also about the families of everyone here behind my back, I’m not talking about the Taulant Balla family or anyone else here.
But I am talking about those, who, unlike us, are not provided with a microphone to tell their truth. I am talking about those, who, unlike us, have not 1 million Facebook followers, just like I do to tell what I am doing, and are not offered our opportunities. I am talking about dozens of entrepreneurs who are forced to pay extortion money to those protesting outside just to remove a news story allegedly reporting that milk is contaminated, fruits contain genetically modified organisms, pepper cause deformation to the fetus, etc. How are they going to be defended? In the way with them having to wait patiently for the court decision, just like I am doing, while such news stories indeed ruin their businesses? Until court ruling is issued, their businesses go bankrupt.
Let’s return to content.
First of all, whoever says this is an individual, or unilateral government act, he is lying.
This is a package is a product of a year-long consultations.
I have been consulting with the EU and the Council of Europe representatives and I have told them that they haven’t read the law you are talking about and you are under pressure from the fake organizations, like the one led by Mero Baze, who makes use of it time after time when needed to raise an issue of the freedom of the press, because he knows quite well when such organization really complains, without taking into account what this organization is, but instead act to protect freedom. Fake organizations just like the false Facebook profiles, or like someone who, on behalf of an organization, shamelessly appears at RAI 3 studios to speak about prisons allegedly full of reporters and about censorship being imposed here. Indeed, those censured here are those who are offered no defending capacities and won’t be actually provided such a defending capacity even once the law is adopted.
Absolutely not! At least, they will be provided an instrument. They are the worst censored one.
The civil servants who are described as thieves, robbers and oligarch, from dawn till dusk.
This is not a matter of opinions because nobody has ever crossed his mind, neither before, nor now, to object what they say when expressing their opinions and issue extreme insults. This is not a matter of freedom of speech. This is a matter of limiting the freedom to make slanderous remarks by bringing charges that are criminal, by telling people about “my millions in offshore accounts, my hundreds of apartment buildings in Spain” and stuff like that, which are fact that should either take me out of the public life, or should be unmasked. One or the other. How could this co-existence go on like this? I hear Rudina Hajdari speaking, yet she forgets herself.  She was the daughter of the Hero of Democracy placed on the pedestal as long as her party ordered so. The day she thought the way she thinks, she saw for herself what happened to her. Is this freedom? Which freedom? The freedom to say “you were sold to the rival,” the freedom to say “you were paid money to do so,” the freedom to say “you were granted construction permit and became corrupt.” This is not a freedom of expression. These are allegations and accusations and whoever takes over to write such allegations should provide facts, or otherwise should face the person he accuses and should definitely be punished by the law.
Artur Zheji speculated that our daughter was the minister’s girlfriend and is now saying ‘I would leave Albania if this law is passed.” Once the case was referred to the court, he of course he lost at trial as he failed to produce facts, but a heinous defamation. This is not to defend myself. I can live with them 1000 more years without being worried because of them.
This is for the entire society. This law is to relief that whole poisonous concentrate they inject into the blood of the society from dawn till dusk.
Another hero protesting there outside is Mark Marku, who just a day ago spared no abuse, slurs and insults yelled at a lawmaker, threatening to hit him with a bottle. Is Mark Marku the professor of literature, who should be adult rated anytime daring to speak about freedom on TV channels.
This law is not being adopted in order to be used by the lawmaker in order to send Mark Marku before the authorities because he shouted insults at a certain moment. No. This is a law for the public to learn more about what is being said and reported.
If a citizen reads all these allegations, he or she has the right to find out whether they are true? Are we all equal, or not? All those involved in politics are forced to face all those joining the crowd outside, who describe them as thieves, bandits, corrupt, or has everyone the right to ask publicly about the truth over what is being said?! What are talking about here? Is this threatening the freedom of speech?! Is this threatening the freedom of the opinion?! This has nothing to do with the opinion. When I gave a lengthy interview with the “New Yorker” magazine while I was serving as Tirana Mayor, they wrote a very long profile, featuring interviews with many people. It took one-month long. A month later, when Jane Kramer, one of the most renowned American journalists, the facts verification department called all people mentioned in the interview, asking them even questions like: “Is it true that you were wearing a red dress when talking about Mayor in the interview with our journalist?” I called the journalist, asking her: “What is going on? You are acting like the Prosecutor’s office by calling people.” “Well – she said – thanks to this ‘prosecutor’s office’, we have lost not a single trial since magazine was founded.”
We are not asking the media to verify facts to the point of “what he were wearing when saying this or that,” but it is unacceptable to allow these people who make false accusations and escape responsibility. Therefore, they should commit to voluntarily remove the news report and the content they can’t prove. How could we possible accept this?
The aim of this law is to create a legal framework to regulate and discipline the activity of this jungle.
It is a jungle of uninsured slaves, who are hired today just to be thrown out just a day later.
A jungle of unregistered ghosts with their domains registered outside Albania and that disseminate every sort of false information without being held accountable to nobody.
A jungle that receives money from all directions, but pays nothing in taxes.
A jungle that triggers and incite hatred, produces disinformation and despair constantly.
This law doesn’t provide for the slightest infringement on Rudina Hajdari, the freedom of speech and opinions, the right to disseminate news stories from all possible sources. However, this law ensures protection of dignity and your rights, when you are attacked or glorified whenever they wish to do so, just because at a certain moment you decide to think and hear the voice of your head. If that doesn’t impress you, it does impress me for you and all other people. Not for myself, but for my family members, who can’t get used to this and who feel a sense of unease.
On the other hand, this is the same mechanism about the audio-visual media today. Today and God knows since when, everybody has the right to complain with the Audio-Visual Media Authority (AMA) about a news story or piece of information aired on a TV channel that he or she objects and dismisses as untrue.

However, it turns out that all this noise has a good side, as it advertises ERTV. They claim ERTV is a TV channel. It’s takes just introducing a logo on a Facebook video page, but they still call it a TV channel. This is actually their goal of calling it a TV channel and consider it a competing rival, while ERTV does not accept advertisements, it doesn’t accept cash and costs 100 times less than most irrelevant news websites, but this is a matter of vision and intelligence, not a matter of money.
All the changes have been made in full compliance with the that have been made have been made in full conformity with the experts designated by the OSCE and I must tell you something. I don’t mind it at all since it is part of my job to listen to and accept any proposal that would improve the project. But, I’m telling you that our draft has improved thoroughly in every detail.
It remains the same in essence that since we have agreed upon we cannot adopt a law like the one in Germany, or any other EU member state, which have strictest legislation in place. Ok, we will draft a less strict one. This is the aspect we have withdrawn from, “because the EU member states have much stricter anti-defamation laws. Yet they ask us to heed their advices otherwise we become their target, warning they can make us look like a freedom oppressing kingdom. This is the essence of truth. Ok, we are not as powerful as Germany to tell them: “What’s wrong? Who are you to tell us how to draft the law in order to defend ourselves from these?” We are not that powerful, but this is not a problem. However, the existing legislation regulates entire activity of these service providers and not the activity of the social networks. The EU member states have also regulated and disciplined the social networks too.
They have also the so-called “Facebook reputation” mechanisms making sure that nobody opens false profiles, if they don’t them to open. They activate algorithms that clean up whole area in a matter of seconds. We haven’t gone that far.
We are seeking to set standards on respecting dignity and the fundamental human rights. Those protesting outside deserve to have their rights protected too.
Of course, the new legislation provides for quick administrative procedures to handle complaints, because, as I already said, it is unacceptable for someone to wait for a year to cope with an immediately harmful effect, while this effect becomes complete if the harmful content is not removed. Of course, whoever publishes that content has the right to be heard and prove that the content is based on facts.
A register of all these online news providers is created as commercial subjects, because they do business and generate income from marketing. They said they don’t want the law be approved, claiming “internet is our freedom.” According to them, this means “we are invaders and everyone accessing the internet should coexist with the invader, otherwise they should not access internet at all, because we have unlimited power over the internet.”
Every owner of these websites is then identifiable, so that everyone knows who is dealing with and there is not an ambush, behind which someone shoots you and you do not know where it came from and you do not know where to go complain about.
But you have already seen that what is thrown against you it doesn’t remain there. Instead it is multiplied and disseminated everywhere. How one is supposed to coexist with this?! On behalf of which freedom and right someone should be sent in front of the “firing squad” for something that is completely defamatory?!
The new legislation doesn’t stipulate that such a web-pages should be closed down. Such a clause simply doesn’t exist. Whoever says the law is designed to shut down news websites is lying. They haven’t read the law. And if there is a single element that hasn’t been part of the discussion since the very first version of the law was introduced, and it was the German version of the law, or the version that aspired to resemble the German one, that was the right to block and immediately shot down any web-page containing pedophilic materials and I believe you do not oppose it. It there exists a website that contains elements, which inspire or induce pedophilia, then there is nothing to wait for; terrorism and threats to the national security. No one can that writing against him threatens national security. No. It definitely threatens family tranquility. Yes.
The Audio-Visual Media Authority doesn’t replace the court. The media watchdog is the instance that handles the complaints, but it is the court and the court only the one to review issues concerning the defamation issues.
There could be no perfect legislation. Any piece of legislation can certainly improve! But we cannot delay it indefinitely while waiting and seeking to adopt the perfect law.
This law will be adopted today as a right granted to everyone to gain protection from the defamation slurs.
We will then continue work on the procedural and regulatory aspects, as we have already agreed and the law is 100% in compliance with the international standards.
And this is not because I am saying it, but this has been 100% confirmed by the institution tasked with monitoring this process and which is the OSCE. Once we received the OSCE recommendations, they were included 100% in the text. The process will go on with the OSCE. Given that the OSCE itself developed a special feeling following the offensive launched by 47 organizations, because every anonymous here runs an organization, some last improvements were made and no matter whether these organizations want it or not, this law will be adopted today and it will provide a simple tool to everybody to be able to file a complaint.
I will stay on the side of this kind of individual. Not for myself. I am telling you also this. You won’t see me lodging any complaints with AMA at all. This is for sure. I will send them all to the court. Some 60 cases have been referred to the court to date. Their number could jump to 600, even 6000, depending on how long I will be serving in office. But I won’t stop chasing them. They should either come to the court and prove that what they say is true – and if one would succeed in doing so, then I would step down immediately – or they will be sentenced by the court on defamation charges.
Given that since the earthquake hit the country I have been reading the holy books – actually I used to read them previously as well and I won’t tell you know what the holy books from the Bible to Quran and Talmud say about defamation and slanderers – but I assure you that what the Quran says about those out there is many times more severe than what I can say on the day when I can become more committed than ever against them. I’m assuring you of that.
From now on, the Albanian citizens should know that they have a tool on their hands that we will put into effect after the New Year’s Eve, because the President will return it back to Parliament.
Thank you!

* * *
Response to lawmaker Rudina Hajdari
Mrs. Hajdari, if I were to sum up whole reply in one single sentence I would quote advocate Ngjela’s humorous statements.
Yet, I would say a little bit more than that.
First of all, you reminded me of your party’s long-time leader saying “you are exhausted. Your time is over.” You are still too young, Mrs. Hajdari. Your time has yet to come, but I don’t think this is the way to deal with you have termed as new politics. Moreover, it is not the right way to introduce new politics after having not read the proposed legislation at all, because it is clearly obvious you haven’t read the law we are about to adopt today and unfortunately I can’t satisfy your call to urgently withdraw the proposed bill.
You said criminals have their rights. Yes, that is true. Criminals have the right to go through a fair legal process, but they have no right to go on committing their crimes, do they Mrs. Hajdari?
I do not understand what is the logic a person, who has read at least two books in her or his life, let alone someone takes over to represent others and address everyone here in this room, employs to question a very simple fact, the right of a person accused without facts to seek to restore his dignity. It’s as easy as that.
Which right is supposed to be infringed if a person or an individual is granted the right to be protected from defamation?
The Holy Quran describes defamation as “an inhuman action,” whereas slanderers are cannibals seeking for dead flesh. If you take the floor and speak about “Putinism” and “Erdoganism”, claiming that something serious happening, it clearly means you have no idea what are you talking about, because this law is a sort of lemonade if compared to the similar legislation into effect in Germany or other EU member states, where nobody would ever dare to slander.
I said and I would reiterate. I don’t want this law for myself. You won’t never see me complaining at AMA, but the examples I provided aimed at telling something else and sharing it with the public.
I didn’t defend you today, Mrs. Hajdari. You certainly don’t need my protection. I cited you as an example of a serious misunderstanding that you are a terrible misunderstanding that, while you deliver speeches about something you do not know what it is, you are the typical victim of what the law stipulates.
I have said and I would reiterate it; whoever decides to join politics, should be ready to accept the political mudslinging, but we can’t afford letting it become a standard.
We cannot afford doing nothing against it.
We cannot let it become a cultural heritage of the Albanian politics, because there are much better persons than us here and would have been here today if they were not to think thousand times before thinking about taking this path, because they see what is happening. Don’t cite neither EP, nor OSCE, EY or CoE, because I am telling you that the law has received the 100% accord of the OSCE.
The law complies 100% with the international standards.
I would invite you to put forward another piece of legislation on this issue. We are working on the bill for about a year. Yes, because we have been subject to countless consultations with the foreign OSCE experts. I invite you to tell what to do. Have you ever proposed an idea about the new Albania? Have you ever come up with a new idea as “a representative of the younger generation politics?”.
The mechanism we are about to endorse today is a real one. Have you ever found out any kind of political repression through AMA? For the sake of truth, the previous government hasn’t done it either.
We can turn a deaf ear to insults, but nobody would tolerate false statements and untrue allegations involving officials, or entrepreneurs, because public deserves to know the truth and the truth should emerge through a process that involves a third party. AMA is not a court and it can’t replace the court. Do you understand this?
AMA represents an initial stage, offering the opportunity to the slanderer to withdraw. It is as easy as that, whereas the content of defamation will be referred to the court. Do you understand this? Just like the existing law stipulates, but the only difference is that the defamation’s harmful effect can now be eliminated within a short time, granting the slanderer the opportunity to backtrack in front of a body like the Media Complaints Council. The Council makes no decision on the content. The final ruling is to be made by the court. But I won’t wait one year long for the court to provide explanations to the public over a defamation that affects me today. And it affects my public position.
Your party’s long-time leader claims that the sniffing dogs are victims of illicit animal trafficking and that’s why there are no dogs available to the search and rescue teams.
This is a defamation and it brings effects to the public and not to the person he addresses to. The public should find out whether this is true or not? And this is a moment of confrontation at the first instance. The process will then go on, but it gives the slanderer the opportunity to withdraw his defamation. I provided this as an example, but we are talking about the news websites, and not about the former DP leader, as he stands trial at court about other things. It is extremely easy. What’s wrong with this? Why should we gather and voice concern over slanderers? What for?
A certain procedure is in place today and it is not the law only. The law includes many other aspects, like registration, employees’ insurances, the fiscal incentives, the transparency of the funds, and many other aspects.