TIRANA, Oct 25 /ATA/ – A workshop on the access to Albania’s Communist-era State Security files brought together journalists, researchers, communication, journalism and political science students on Friday.
The workshop was hosted by the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents and was chaired by Dagmar Hovestadt, spokeswoman for Germany’s Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records, also a senior expert in communication and management of secret police documents.
The Director of the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, Gentiana Sula, said in her remarks that opening secret documents is crucial to transparency and reflection in every democratic society.
“Opening the documents of a prolonged dictatorship like ours in particular provides one more chance to grasp the cost of democracy and honor the pain of the victims and their families and to ensure a democratic and European-like society,” she said.
Sula underlined that archival records are a treasure trove to shed light on the fifty years of the dictatorial regime in Albania, when the fundamental human rights were violated, families were persecuted and freedom of speech was denied.
She said that cooperation with the media and researchers is designed to provide the most accurate reflection of the historical reality, serving the future and new generations with high ethical responsibility.
Mauro Puzzo, the Head of the OSCE Presence’s Rule of Law and Human Rights Department, stated that transparency is the key to a healthy and informed society.
“When access to secret documents is fair, open and accountable, these documents become powerful tools for understanding the past and building a fairer future,” he added.
Dagmar Hovestadt, communication expert, journalist and spokeswoman for Germany’s Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records, underlined that the role of the media and researchers is vital to this process, bringing forgotten stories to light and helping the public to reflect on the past with a critical eye, but always based on facts.
The workshop collected the opinions of media and researchers about the Handbook for Researchers and Media, which will be finalized in cooperation with the expert commissioned by the OSCE Presence in Albania.
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