| Country | AL |
| Name and Surname | Freard Rista |
| Gender | Male |
| Date | 18/06/2024 |
| City / Location | Vlore |
| Type of incident | Actual attacks on journalists |
| By whom | To journalists by citizens |
| Media name | Piranjat TV |
| Source | Association of Albanian Journalists |
| Legal closure | Ongoing (or case not closed) |
| Judiciary status | The Vlora Police Station referred the materials to the Prosecutor's Office, for the citizen D. Ç., after the citizen F. R., 29 years old (journalist of the investigative show "Piranjat"), reported that on 18.06.2024, in the premises of a private entity, the administrator of the subject, citizen D. Ç., physically hit him and damaged the filming equipment. |
| Was journalist`s association informed | Yes |
| Were authorities informed? | Case was reported to the police |
On June 18, 2024, the investigative team of the show “Piranjat” traveled to Vlora following a complaint from Ms. Sabihe Likaj about illegal dumping by “Serena Furniture,” owned by Mr. Dorisen Çepaj. Upon arrival, Mr. Çepaj initially locked the crew out but later confronted them aggressively, using abusive language, attempting to snatch journalist Freard Rista’s microphone, and hitting him. He forcibly ejected Rista, smashed the cameraman’s equipment, and fled with the damaged camera. Rista pursued him, leading to Mr. Çepaj throwing stones at him, removing the memory card from the camera, and further damaging it. After these events, Rista filed a formal complaint at the police station. The Association of Albanian Journalists informed Safe Journalists Network about the case.
Updates: `The Vlora Police Station referred the materials to the Prosecutor’s Office, for citizen D. Ç., after citizen F. R., 29 years old (journalist of the investigative show “Piranjat”), reported that on 18.06.2024, on the premises of a private entity, the administrator of the subject, citizen D. Ç., physically hit him and damaged the filming equipment`.
