Terrorist attack on journalist Mujë Buçpapaj
Free speech is attacked with bullets. A burst of gunfire and then two shots attempt to take journalist Buçpapaj's life. The police are working on the theory of "contradictory testimony"
The Nano - Meidani - Gjinushi clique strikes journalists with bullets. The political editor of RD is seriously wounded
The political editor of the newspaper "RD", Mujë Buçpapaj, has been wounded. Yesterday at 6:30 p.m., near the Ballet School, he and his colleagues were barbarically fired upon with a burst of bullets. The criminal act against the journalist's life and his family follows a series of threats by telephone, and then bursts of gunfire by individuals against the political editor of our newspaper, things that have now become routine for all the journalists of our newspaper, the opposition press and the independent press.
The shooting of journalist Mujë Buçpapaj is the gravest act and the most brutal attack on freedom of speech, the free press and journalists as carriers of that speech, that has occurred in Albania since the fall of communism in 1992.
The installed socialist power and its structures, built since they took power through the violence of Kalashnikovs, began to implement a strategy of terror against the free press, alternative thought and free speech. The gangs of the Socialist Party have been organizing, for 6 months now, the distribution of the newspaper "RD" and other non-communist newspapers. 1/3 of the country's territory, the government installed by the socialists, its prime minister, the speaker of parliament, the President of the Republic and all the other responsible structures are moving along the merciless path of massive government press control, but not even for the sake of demagoguery have they issued any formal statement at least to condemn the gangs that were ordered to keep the Albanian resistance under informational terror.
The criminal act against the well-known journalist of the Albanian press, Mujë Buçpapaj, only proves that this installed power is not just a badly made copy of Hoxha's dictatorial rule. Journalist Mujë Buçpapaj has been present in the Albanian free press since its beginnings in 1990. He has stood out for a firm and consistent anti-communism, something which he has recognized as a basic principle in all the newspapers he has worked for and as the author of journalistic articles; specialized in the USA in 1996, our colleague has always, without evasion, upheld truthfulness, professionalism and anti-communism.
The attack on him is a murder of free speech and the free press. Only a miracle saved our colleague, his wife and their one-year-old daughter from certain death last night, and we, his colleagues, pray to God for the journalist's speedy recovery.
But by now free speech was killed last night in the crudest and most criminal way imaginable. No one, neither the police nor anyone else, can cover up a number of very serious reasons. The Albanian police, for a whole day, has been acting irresponsibly regarding the ordinary nature of this act, and this only proves the attempt against free speech. Personal and police sources revealed last night that the main people responsible in the police for identifying the masked perpetrators are working on our newspaper, since the police was unable to provide information about the car's license plates.
Late last night, another police version also circulated, according to which a police car was chasing a "Vespa" motorcycle of the small state economic crime Narko Gjinushi-Meidani. That the crime is not ordinary is confirmed not only by the way it was carried out, but also by eyewitnesses who came last night and testified to the evidence of police involvement in this attack.
Journalist Mujë Buçpapaj, last night at the Military Hospital
Last night at the Military Hospital dozens of journalists, representatives of the Journalists' Association, many friends of our colleague, and dozens of readers of the newspaper visited the wounded colleague, Mujë Buçpapaj.
Also at the Military Hospital came senior leaders of the Democratic Party, Genc Pollo and Vili Minarolli, to visit the wounded journalist.
The editorial staff of "RD" thanks all the colleagues, friends and other acquaintances who were there last night beside our wounded colleague. The editorial staff also thanks the doctors of Hospital 2 and the Military Hospital for taking care of our colleague.
The RD editorial staff
Statement of the Democratic Party. The attack on the journalist inspired by the governing troika
Political revenge of the far-left extremists
The Democratic Party strongly condemns the terrorist act and the wounding of the "RD" journalist, Mujë Buçpapaj. In a statement, it says that yesterday at 6:30 p.m., near the Ballet School, a group of terrorists from a blue "Tipo" car fired a burst from an automatic weapon at the journalist of "Rilindja Demokratike", Mujë Buçpapaj, and his family.
As a result of this attack, journalist Buçpapaj was seriously wounded, while the car with the terrorists sped away.
This ugly act is political revenge by the far-left extremists who are now in power and who thus continue the wave of violence and terrorist acts.
The chief of police of Police Station No. 1, known as a far-left extremist, seeks to falsify the truth by considering this attack accidental.
Instead of focusing on finding and striking the attackers, the police takes upon itself the deception of the real motives of a profoundly political act.
The attack is directly inspired by the Nano - Meidani - Gjinushi clique and the chief of police Cuka, who have undertaken a campaign of revenge and exemplary violence against the Albanian opposition, institutions, freedom of speech and free thought in general. Feeling the state terror and the ugly act, and the clique behind them, the Democratic Party warns them not to play with violence and crime, which will bring unpredictable consequences for the life of the country. Responsibility for these acts falls directly on them.
State terrorism against the press and free speech
As the injured colleague himself says, since 6:30 p.m. he had been going out for a walk with his wife and daughter. Near the Ballet School, about 50 meters above the Lana Bridge intersection, a blue "Tipo" car at high speed fired a burst in their direction. After this, from the front seat of the car, a person fired twice again. The journalist remained hit by one of the two bullets, which struck him in the head. Meanwhile, after the first burst and the two subsequent shots, there were perhaps people. "RD" says it was full of people, who were terrified and horrified by the burst of gunfire. The journalist states that during the day there had been threats from the person [?] before. Heated himself. There where he mentioned himself several times in the Editorial Office before: "He was threatening", "through a number", echoes, and near the house people were frightened by firing upwards. S[?].
In our Editorial Office everyone knows the colleague for the correctness that characterizes him not only at work, but also in other settings. However, to be sure, they may not have had any personal or family conflict in recent days or at any time with any specific person or group of people. Absolutely not, says Mujë, I have never had any personal or family problem. The same is confirmed by his family, his wife, his brothers and his closest friends. We colleagues of the newspaper, who have worked with him for a long time, can freely declare the same.
Continuing his account of the criminal event, Muja says that amidst the burst of bullets that seemed to come, fortunately, but strangely did not hit any other passerby, not even the so-called bandit who was shooting at the other one. The journalist and his wife do not remember that a car and a "Vespa" motorcycle were firing at one another. They do not remember the car's license plates, because the event happened in a flash. But those who heard it say the car was blue. Hundreds say they saw the weapon barrel protruding from the window of the front seat of the car, which was heading in the same direction as he, Muja and the girl were moving. Of course the Lana Bridge intersection always has police and it is hard to believe that the area was unprotected. Why were the first shots not followed by blockades of all roads and possible intersections? The police's preliminary version of the event seems overly hasty when it says there had been an exchange of fire between the car's occupants and the "Vespa", which it is still unknown whether existed or was fabricated. The police also said that the car's license plates had been identified, while sources from the Prosecutor's Office denied such a thing, at least claiming that these data about the car's license plates were not available.
Of course, for such a serious and criminal event, everyone is interested that it be uncovered and not manipulated. But meanwhile, the preliminary elements of it, as well as the police's haste to rule out this macabre act as an accidental event, lead one to think that this is not an accidental event and that it has no connection with the journalist of "RD". The greatest interest of the senior leaders of the Tirana police, at that moment and in this, is to thank, but meanwhile it cannot be explained why only the Tirana police were so interested, without the other investigative structures. Why did the police immediately ask to question our colleague and his wife, when the two are still shaken by the event and, moreover, the journalist is injured and not in a clear state of judgment? Why did the police hurry to offer the narcotics version first and not another line of inquiry; we cannot understand it and it seems to us that they are steering things in the wrong direction. Why is another version of the event also being handled, which in no way matches the first version and is changing it?
For our colleague, the event has political causes, different from what happened. He said last night that this act is the culmination of all the previous threats aimed at silencing the free press and free speech.