FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENT SALLI BERISHA THE PRESS LAW AIMS TO IMPROVE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEFAMATION AND THE TRUTH AND TO PROTECT HUMAN DIGNITY FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENT SALLI BERISHA First of all, I ask you to note that from my remarks regarding the press, it is quite clear that here the employees of the world's only national anti-corruption institution, the press inspectors, have been mixed up willy-nilly with forest and fisheries inspectors. Allow me to tell you that the press is the only modern national anti-corruption institution. It is true that the editor-in-chief of "Zëri i Popullit" has published an article in which he calls himself a courageous servant of the PD, the ruling party, but for me this is not any cause for concern. I have never understood journalism as a service to the government. I prefer to regard the press as a very important institution and public service, just as much as a service to the public interest. World history also proves this about the history of the press in Albania. Out of hundreds and hundreds of pages in the history of this country, if you look at any period and decade, you will find hundreds and hundreds of proofs of the transformation of the press into a weapon of class struggle, of the total distortion of its role. This has been a very bitter experience for the country and for democracy. This experience helps us understand that, in order for the press to be free and useful to society, it must be freed from the mission of party service and put at the service of truth and human dignity. In your question concerning the new press law, I think its main purpose is to establish the fairest possible relationship between freedom of expression and the protection of a person's honor and personality. I do not think this law aims to restrict freedom of expression. On the contrary, it seeks to establish clear civil rules so that private life is not desecrated, falsehoods are not invented, and defamation is not committed irresponsibly. If a person is unjustly accused, he must have a legal means of seeking the rehabilitation of his name. This is in the interest not only of the individual, but also of the press itself, because it increases its credibility in the eyes of the public. Democracy cannot be based on defamation, but on honest debate and on facts. For this reason, we have thought that current legislation should be supplemented with more precise provisions. We do not intend to bring back censorship, nor administrative control over newspapers. On the contrary, we aim for a legal order in which civic responsibility and freedom go hand in hand. Only in this way can we have a free, dignified press that is useful to Albanian society. In this sense, the press has an irreplaceable role in the democratic education of citizens. It must expose corruption, uncover abuses, and keep power in check, but at the same time it must uphold the standard of truth. When this standard is lost, the mission of the press is lost as well. When lies prevail, human dignity is lost. Therefore, the press law should not be seen as a tool against journalists, but as an effort to define more clearly the limits of responsibility in a democratic society. In such a society, no one has the right to use freedom to destroy another person's honor. And no one should fear the truth. We are building a state based on the rule of law, and in this state the press too must be free, independent, and responsible. Only in this way will the relationship between defamation and truth improve and human dignity be protected. (To be continued on page 6)