Marjana Koçeku Criticizes Taulant Balla’s Stance on BIRN: Attack on Gjergj Erebara Undermines Free Speech

Marjana Koçeku, the MP who left the Socialist Party, has commented on Taulant Balla’s stance toward BIRN journalist Gjergj Erebara.

According to Koçeku, BIRN has ranked among the most serious and credible media outlets in the country for years. She described Balla’s public reaction against Erebara as a wrong signal to all journalists and citizens who carry out their profession with integrity and independence.

The MP stated that free speech cannot be thrown in the trash or made an object of pressure, while simultaneously expressing her solidarity with journalist Gjergj Erebara.

In her full reaction, Koçeku emphasized that investigative journalism is a necessity for the functioning of democracy. She assessed that the work of BIRN journalists has made it possible for the public to learn about many issues that otherwise would have remained in the dark.

According to her, the public attack by the head of the SP Parliamentary Group against Gjergj Erebara goes beyond a clash with a single individual. Koçeku considered it an inappropriate message to every journalist and citizen who works with professional independence and integrity.

She underlined that one of the ways to measure a government is by seeing how it treats its critics. Reiterating that free speech cannot be thrown in the trash nor intimidated, Koçeku declared that she will always stand alongside any journalist or media outlet that, with courage and professionalism, writes and serves the truth, protects the public interest and justice, informs citizens, and protests together with them against any kind of political falsifier.