Actual attacks on Albanian journalists, 08/01/2022, Tirana

Translations: Tirana 

On 8 January 2022, journalists and media crews who covered a protest outside the headquarters of the opposition Democratic Party in Tirana were targeted by a police water cannon and sprayed with tear gas. For more than an hour, journalists from various media organizations had been covering the violent standoff between rival factions of the political party, which saw stone-throwing protesters storm into the party’s headquarters, when the police intervened. Media were given no prior warning and a number of journalists, who were clearly identifiable at the time, were hit by water cannon jets. The Ora News camera operators Ermal Noka, Esmerald Jahelezi, and Alban Xhokaxhi, and reporters Everest Dedaj, Fjorela Beleshi, Sonila Musaj, and Edison Vatnika sustained burns to their eyes and had breathing problems after police fired a “disproportionate amount” of tear gas at them, according to news reports. No media workers sustained serious injuries.