The parliamentary Commission of Media has rejected today Albanian President Ilir Meta’s Decree for the return to the parliament of the anti-defamation legislation. The Socialist majority in the Albanian parliament has ignored the criticism from the European Union and OSCE, as well as the request made by the Council of Europe for an opinion of the Commission of Venice for the controversial package.

Only one day ago, the parliamentary Commission for the Producing Activity decided to reject the dame Presidential Decree which was turned to the parliament for a revision.

The so-called anti-defamation legislation was passed by the parliament last December despite many objections from the media community and international bodies of human and media rights.

In his argumentation for the return of the package to the parliament, President Meta wrote that “the legislation violates the right of speech, of media, and of information; it also breaks the standards of the European Convention for the Human Rights”.