The SafeJournalists Network strongly condemns the reported interference by Albanian State Police officers with the work of Syri TV journalist Albana Aliaj while she was reporting in Durrës on 22 September 2026 and calls for an immediate, transparent investigation into the incident.

According to Aliaj’s account, she was reporting from the scene of an ongoing police operation when she was surrounded by several masked and unidentified police officers. She states that the officers took her mobile phone under pressure and deleted video footage she had recorded while covering the operation. According to the journalist, the officers were aware that she was a journalist and that she was present at the scene in a professional capacity.

If confirmed, such conduct would constitute a serious and unacceptable interference with journalistic work. Taking control of a journalist’s device and accessing or deleting journalistic material cannot be treated as a routine restriction at the scene of a police operation. Journalists’ devices may contain unpublished material, communications and information related to confidential sources, and any interference with them requires a clear legal basis, necessity, proportionality and appropriate procedural safeguards.

Police have a legitimate responsibility to secure operational areas and may impose proportionate restrictions where necessary to ensure safety or prevent interference with an ongoing operation. However, this cannot provide a basis for police officers to arbitrarily decide what journalists may document or to delete material already recorded.

The SafeJournalists Network calls on the Durrës Local Police Directorate and the General Directorate of the Albanian State Police to:

• immediately establish and publicly clarify the circumstances of the incident;
• identify the police officers involved and determine the legal basis, if any, for taking the journalist’s phone and accessing or deleting her recordings;
• establish whether any journalistic material, communications or other data on the device were accessed, altered or deleted;
• take appropriate disciplinary or other measures if misconduct is established;
• ensure that police officers receive and follow clear instructions on respecting journalists’ rights while managing operational scenes.

Journalists must be able to observe and document police activity in places where reporting is lawful, provided that they do not obstruct legitimate police operations. Such reporting is an essential element of public oversight, transparency and the public’s right to receive information.

The SafeJournalists Network stresses that the Albanian State Police has an obligation to facilitate and protect journalists carrying out their professional duties, not to intimidate them or unlawfully interfere with their equipment and journalistic material.

The SafeJournalists Network will continue to follow the case and will inform relevant national and international stakeholders of further developments.

Sarajevo – Skopje – Pristina – Zagreb – Belgrade – Podgorica – Tirana, 22 September 2026

Association of Journalists of Albania

Association of Journalists of Kosovo

Association of Journalists of Macedonia

BH Journalists Association

Croatian Journalists’ Association

Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia

Trade Union of Media of Montenegro