The prime minister Sali Berisha is taking a political revenge on free medias

Today, the prime minister Sali Berisha has prohibited the publishing of the albanian daily newspaper TemA. Two strengthened lines of policemen blocked the entrance of the building making the publishing of the newspaper impossible.The journalists waited for hours in front of the police lines but they were not permited to enter although they had a decision of the 6th January by the Court of Tirana which suspended every administrative decision made against the 20 year contract that this newspaper has with the Ministry of Economy. The police had taken a list of the employes that were allowed to enter in the building. The employes belonged to the other 3 companies making TemA the only company who wasnt allowed to proceed work.

Many albanian journalists joined the efforts to convince the police to execute the law but they did not accept to comply the decision made by the Court of Tirana. In these conditions TemA could not be published anymore. The journalists have no longer any physical contact with the offices where the newspaper is made and with the bindery where its printed.

The staff of TemA appeals to the Albanian justice institutes to place their authority in order by penalising those who brutally break the law for political revenge.

The staff also appeals to the President of Albania, to encourage justice to do their job and send to the court those officials that obey political order not based on the law.

TemA thanks all the albanian journalist and hundreds of thousand citizens for their support in these difficult times for us.

The newspaper thanks the representatives of the diplomatic court in Tirana for their interest shown in this scandal and especially feels supported by the fast and principal response from the USA Embassy in Tirana.

We will use all the legal ways to send to the court those who are trying through political orders to stop the newspaper from publishing. We know that the punishment that the prime minister Sali Berisha has ordered is because of the publishing from us of some criminal files linked with the Gerdec tragedy that directly infiltrates his son in this criminal cotract, the history of the serbo-bosniac broker of the Berisha family,Damir Fazllic, and also the history of abusings in the Rreshen - Morine segment of Durres - Kukes road.This is not the first blackmail the newspaper is facing lately.Other blackmails contained personal and familliar attacks leading to physical violence of the publishers private property. The newspaper could not be published today. Maybe the prime minister can prevent it from being published one day more or two but he cannot stop it. The newspaper will be still on the market as fast as it can and the political policemen of Sali Berisha and he himself will have problems with the Justice, the State and the public opinion.

The declaration of TemA newspaper, supported by the Albanian Professional Journalists Society, the Albanian journalists League, The Albanian Journalist Union and the Albanian Free Media Forum.