Crime, the media and the government

TIRANA, Sep. 13 – There are everyday news about crimes and murders in the country. A woman, 24, was found dead near the Qafe e Thanes border crossing point allegedly hit with rocks. A man was killed in northern Shkodra, while a wedding turned into a funeral after one of the participants killed another.
These are news that Albanian may hear every day in the news of all the local television stations and newspapers the next day.
They are really not good news.
They continue to report how police discovers or finds the suspects. If people involved are important, it may continue for some time with their process in the courts. If not, just forget about that.
Then the media goes into efforts to investigate or give some hints to and from police during investigation.
Very often a casual murder, a family crime or something like that may turn into a political issue of the day.
And that distorts everything.
It is true that there may be an increased number of crimes in the country. That may have different factors, like poverty, family disputes, property, revenge and blood feud, or road accidents.
It is also true that very often police may not be that efficient to find the suspects, or to prevent a crime.
But unfortunately such cases are not assisted when politics is involved with them.
Look at the four murders of the Jan. 21, 2011 opposition protest. Due to its importance there is special attention from the local media outlets on its developments. The media reports all the main developments in the court. It reported these days the testimony of the former commander of the Guard of the Republic, one of the two persons charged with murder in the case.
That is good because people learn many details. That is good for the transparency of the case. That is one of the rights of the people, learning about such important cases.
Fortunately, for the moment, there is not so much attention on the party of politics for that case. Or the opposition has likely left it on purpose without any comment.
The media continues to report other daily issues, like the case of the former economy minister Dritan Prifti and his deputy also accused of corruption. Their case will likely be closed after the Supreme Court decided that the computer tape could not serve as a legal proof, the same it had done for the leader of the small leftist Socialist Movement for Integration Party Ilir Meta (also part of the governing coalition).
The news moved away after one day.
There was not much comment on the case. The people were just told something happened and in a way ‘ordered’ to forget that case.
Is that right?
The local media does not report at length on cases of ho0w Albanian immigrants are involved in crimes in other countries. With the digital technology and internet it is easy for all the TV stations, radio stations or the print media and internet websites to report such cases.
An Albanian man convicted of attempting to rape a child in Massachusetts has been turned over to law enforcement authorities in Albania, where he is wanted for murder.Sokrat Stambolliu was arrested last year as he attempted to register as a convicted sex offender at the police department in Dedham, where he was living. He was convicted in Boston in 2005 on a charge of attempted rape of a child.The 45-year-old Stambolliu remained in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement until he was removed from the country and turned over to Albanian officials Tuesday at the Tirana International Airport in the European country’s capital city.
But there are over a million Albanian spread all over the world.
It should also be noted that the cooperation of the Albanian police with other countries has increased so much. And that is a good thing not only for police work but also for common Albanians and their prospects in the integration process.
It would be good if there would be more reports on the causes of such an increased number of murders, suicides, even petty crimes in the country. Yes, it is again the media and, of course, the government that should promote such research studies.
And the link may go further with the media willing to report at length that despite improvement the situation in the country’s prisons is still very poor. Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, visited the Zaharia prison in Kruja last week and hailed the country’s commitment
to treat all persons deprived of their liberty with humanity and respect for their inherent dignity, to take measures, as necessary, to improve the conditions of individuals in detention or imprisonment.
But he also said ‘politely’ and di0lomatically that “We are looking forward to a further strengthening of the professional healthcare services throughout the entire prison system, an area where Albanian institutions still have to make progress.”
All this means that the media may likely be more selective in reporting each and individual case of crime in the country. Or be more ethical when reporting it. It would have been good to have more comments, opinions from the media staff and also more research studies from experts, and of course a more efficient way of preventing crimes from the authorities.