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What prevents whistleblowers from blowing the whistle against corruption?

2024-12-24 20:32:07Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA ARTAN RAMA
What prevents whistleblowers from blowing the whistle against corruption?
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Whistleblowing against corruption in Albania faces numerous obstacles, from a lack of institutional protection to harsh retaliation against whistleblowers. The media often confuses their role with the stigmas of the past, leaving them exposed and defenseless. Supporting whistleblowers requires an independent media and a moral platform that empowers transparency.

Artan Rama

When, at the head of a small group of journalists, I decided to leave “Vizion Plus” television, in protest after the owners banned the broadcast of an investigative report in 2016, the departure became the epicenter of a public debate on media freedom and conditions. For a short time, our group gained popular support; the names and work of the journalists received great attention and appreciation. But in two weeks, all the noise died down. The event passed into history and the details were archived in the collective memory. The media, just as before, continued to serve the government, while the government continued its daily propaganda. The only ones who changed were us: the team of journalists from “Públicus”.

Afterwards, only a few of us returned to the media. Others changed professions, while I started working, ever since, as a freelance journalist.

This story from eight years ago came back to me this December during a conference on whistleblowers held in Tirana. It was organized by the Center for the Study of Democracy and Governance (CSDG) with the support of the Balkan Trust for Democracy and USAID and aimed to develop a dialogue between public authorities, non-governmental organizations and experts, to strengthen whistleblowing and the fight against corruption.

Whistleblowers, within the meaning of Law No. 60/2016 "On Whistleblower Reporting and Protection", are civil servants who report suspected corrupt practices to the institutions where they work, of which they are aware.

The journalists at Públicus cannot be considered genuine whistleblowers, but going public exposed them. For genuine whistleblowers, exposure can be fatal.

"Their goal should not be to go public, but to make public the phenomenon they are reporting," advises Arjan Dyrmishi from CSDG. According to him, almost all whistleblowers are victims of retaliation, which in a way marks their careers.

Last year I made a documentary on the state of whistleblowing in Albania. Although few, in the last five years three cases stood out. The first was the doctor Ilir Allkja, an emergency doctor, who had denounced maladministration practices at the National Center for Medical Emergency. The second was the veterinarian Ardian Koçi, director of the regional agency for protected areas who had opposed abusive practices at the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, and the third case concerned the editorial staff of Lapsi.al, an information platform, whose journalists had denounced the unauthorized collection of citizens' personal data by the socialist party for electoral purposes.

In all three cases, the authorities' reaction was harsh. Doctor Allkja was fired, while director Ardian Koçi was removed from managing daily affairs, being replaced by other people, which forced him to resign. Meanwhile, the servers of the Lapsi.al information platform were at risk of being seized, after the Special Court approved the Prosecutor's Office's request to seize them. They were saved at the last moment, thanks to the suspension of the decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

But the testimony of Dr. Allkja showed that the pressure came from another direction as well. In addition to the authority from above, some of the attacks, mostly verbal, although unorchestrated, came from citizens on the street. “Some of them were hurling insults at me, using harsh words,” the doctor says.

It is not easy to explain the origin of this aggressiveness towards those involved in the defense of the commons.

“When it comes to common ground, people think of the communist past in Socialist Albania,” Fjola Graçi, a young journalist who runs Zëri.ai, explains to me. In fact, the media cannot be exempted from responsibility either.

When the law was passed eight years ago, the media talked about spies and not whistleblowers, which damaged the process before it even began. “Like the rest of society, the media does not delve into it and confuses the secrecy of the work of whistleblowers with the secret work of spies in a totalitarian communist state,” argues Graçi from Zeri.ai.

“What public good has come to the Albanian public interest, after all these years?” – asks Dyrmishi from CSDG. More than a question, it is clearly an observation. Dyrmishi is one of the best experts on the whistleblowing initiative and whistleblower protection, but in the eight years since the law was passed, questions about the effectiveness of whistleblowing have increased. “None of the whistleblowing cases have ended up in court,” – he states.

Inspektorati i Lartë i Deklarimit dhe Kontrollit të Pasurive dhe Konfliktit të Interesave (ILDKPKI) që mbikqyr dhe monitoron rregullat dhe standardet ligjore për sinjalizuesit dhe mbrojtjen e tyre është një institucion, thellësisht i pareformuar. Raportet vjetore mbi gjendjen e sinjalizimit janë të varfëra dhe pothuajse të zbrazëta nga të dhënat. Në këtë pikë ato nuk dallojnë shumë nga moria e raporteve të institucioneve të tjera publike, të cilat shpesh e fshehin problemin, në vend që ta ekspozojnë.

Unë tentova të takoj drejtuesit e këtij institucioni për të nxjerrë më shumë të dhëna të vlefshme për publikun, por përpjekja nuk dha asnjë rezultat. Për burokratët e ILDKPKI fryma e mbylljes është një mekanizëm për të justifikuar mungesën e llogaridhënies. Sipas Dyrmishit, ILDKPKI është një agjenci me natyrë ndëshkuese dhe nuk përputhet me mbështetjen që ky autoritet duhet që t’u japë sinjalizimeve dhe sinjalizuesve. Prej kohësh, ai ka sugjeruar kalimin e përgjegjësive në një institucion tjetër shtetëror.

Sinjalizimet janë një armë e fuqishme në luftën kundër korrupsionit, por dobishmëria publike e sinjalizimit nuk po merr vëmendjen e merituar. Shumë prej anëtarëve të njësive përgjegjëse nëpër institucionet shtetërore që monitorojnë sinjalizimet, pjesëmarrës në konferencë, qëndruan të heshtur, duke shmangur rënien në sy. Ata pak që u pëfshinë treguan paqartësi dhe mungesë trajnimi për t’u marrë me sinjalizimet. Për këtë arsye, pothuajse që të gjithë sinjalizuesit i kanë drejtuar sinjalizimet e tyre në media. Por dalja publike nuk garanton mbrojtjen e tyre ligjore, duke nxitur fushata të komanduara denigrimi dhe përndjekjeje.

“Sinjalizimi nuk është për njëherë, – thotë Mark Worth nga Qendra Evropiane për të Drejtat e Sinjalizuesve. Sinjalizuesi nuk duhet konsumuar në publik. Mbrojta e tyre mbetet njësoj e rëndësishme, po aq sa sinjalizimi, vijon ai më tej.

Worth ka një përvojë të spikatur më mbrojtjen e sinjalizuesve. Unë zhvillova me të një bisedë telefonike javën e shkuar, në një përpjekje për të kaluar nga një realitet lokal në një perspektivë më të gjerë përfshirjeje. Si një prej koordinatorëve të Koalicionit për Mbrojtjen e Sinjalizuesve në Evropën Juglindore (SECWP) ai konstaton se Shqipëria përbën një rast atipik dhe jo shumë të favorshëm në kultivimin dhe përkrahjen ndaj sinjalizuesve, krahasuar me shtetet e tjera të vogla, kryesisht të ish-Jugosllavisë. Por ai shton se mbrojtja nuk duhet të synojë tjetërsimin e sinjalizuesve dhe as të ndryshojë jetën e tyre.

“Shpesh sinjalizuesit përfshihen emocionalisht. Ky është gabim! Në këtë mënyrë ata konsumohen dhe jeta e tyre ndryshon përgjithmonë. Ndaj ne duhet t’i mbrojmë, në radhë të parë nga ekspozimi, përndryshe ata do të pushohen nga puna dhe mbrojtja bëhet jashtëzakonisht e vështirë”, – përfundon Worth.

There is no shortcut to sustainable whistleblowing. The illusion that improving the law can improve the situation of whistleblowers must be put aside. Can we look elsewhere? Can we improve the instruments that can improve the bedrock on which whistleblowing can grow? These were some of the questions asked at the conference held this December in Tirana. The answers came in the form of recommendations and the topic was Media.

– Yes! The media is the key!

Unable to directly increase the number of whistleblowing, let's improve the media to offer public servants a sustainable whistleblowing opportunity; build an independent media and a strategic journalist-whistleblower alliance; provide support so that whistleblowers are not publicly consumed, but continue to whistleblower, not just once, but always. But first and foremost, as journalists, let's offer whistleblowers a moral platform where they feel not only protected, but also fulfilled.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

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