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Attacked
May 28
Bardhok Lala, Dita Information Service, ATTACKED
Lala, a reporter for the independent Dita Information Service, was beaten by police during a rally in Tirana’s Skanderberg Square, where opposition supporters were protesting alleged ballot manipulation in the May 26 parliamentary elections. President Sali Berisha’s Democratic Party won an overwhelming majority of votes in the elections. Lala said he was watching the rally when he was picked up by police and taken to a restaurant, where he was beaten and kicked. He was moved to a police station, dumped into a car with no license plates, beaten again, and threatened with a gun to his face. The police took Lala to a lake south of Tirana, stripped him, and beat him with batons and a revolver. They demanded to know the names of secret police officials who leaked information to newspapers, and fired a gun several times near his head. Lala, whose attackers eventually left him by the lake, injured, sought help in a nearby village. International organizations reported that other journalists, foreign and Albanian, and protesters were also beaten at the rally. CPJ urged Albanian authorities to investigate the attack on Lala and hold the police officers involved accountable.
May 28
Gianfranco Stara, Associated Press Television (APTV),ATTACKED
Spiro Ilo, APTV, ATTACKED, HARASSED
Eduardo del Campo, El Mundo,ATTACKED
Stara and Ilo, both journalists with APTV, and del Campo, a reporter for Spain’s El Mundo, were beaten by police while observing a political rally in Skanderberg Square in the center of the capital, Tirana. Police also smashed Ilo’s video camera and destroyed his film. CPJ condemned the attack and urged the authorities to order an investigation into the police beatings.
For more information contact europeweb@cpj.org