H. E. Dr. Sali Berisha
President of the Republic of Albania
Office of the President
Tirana
Albania
Vienna, 3 March 1997
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), strongly condemns the introduction by Albania’s parliament of controls on the media.
We are informed that parliament, responding to a surge of anti-government violence sparked by high-risk pyramid investment schemes, has introduced measures which include a national state of emergency, and now press controls which come into force at midnight GMT.
IPI, the global network of editors and media executives from newspapers, magazines, broadcasting organisations and news agencies in 98 countries, believes that restrictions on the right of the news media to freely gather and distribute information is unacceptable and urges Your Excellency to ensure that censorship of the media, both direct and indirect, is eliminated.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director