On the night of 26 April 2026, the car of journalist Sami Curri was set on fire while parked near his residence in Bulqizë. Curri is the founder and editor of Bulqiza Ime, a local online media outlet covering local governance, mining activities, labour conditions and environmental issues in the Dibër region. He has reported from Bulqizë for close to a decade. The Dibra police, working under the direction of the prosecutor’s office, opened an investigation on initial suspicion of intentional arson.
Bulqiza Ime is the kind of outlet that does not exist in most accounts of Albania’s media landscape but does much of the public-interest reporting on which local accountability depends. It covers a region built around one of the most consequential chromium deposits in Europe, where mining concessions, miners’ working conditions, environmental impact and local governance are not abstract policy questions but daily lived realities. National media presence in Bulqizë is intermittent. The outlet’s reporters live where they report, and the people they hold to account are the same people they pass in the street.
SCiDEV expressed serious concern following the incident, underscoring the importance of a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation. An effective institutional response, SCiDEV noted, is essential to prevent impunity and to safeguard conditions for independent and public interest journalism. The SafeJournalists Network (SJN) also reacted promptly, issuing a public statement and initiating coordination with relevant partners.
On 4 May 2026, SCiDEV convened a meeting at the Bulqiza Ime newsroom to stand in solidarity with Sami Curri and the outlet, and to signal publicly that an attack on a local journalist is not a local matter. The meeting brought together the Association of Journalists of Albania, BIRN Albania, Amfora media, and representatives of the Embassy of the Netherlands, the EU and the Council of Europe, who stood in solidarity with the newsroom while highlighting the pressures faced by local media reporting on issues of public interest, including abuse of power.
The attack cannot be viewed only as damage to property. In Curri’s case, the incident is linked to the conditions under which local reporting takes place: limited resources, limited protection and direct exposure to interests affected by journalistic scrutiny. In a town the size of Bulqizë, an attack on a journalist’s car at night is a message read by every potential source, every reader, and every other would-be local reporter. This is where the case raises a wider concern for media freedom, because pressure against one local journalist can shape newsroom decisions and reporting well beyond the individual case.
Sami Curri thanked participants for their support and solidarity, while stressing the need for the case to be investigated with maximum seriousness. He underlined that clarifying the incident is essential not only for justice, but also to send a clear message that such acts cannot be tolerated. When asked what he needed most following the attack, Curri was direct: “More support for local media and local journalists in Albania, everywhere.”
The meeting in Bulqizë was followed by a working discussion in Peshkopi with representatives of the Ministry of Interior, the State Police and the Dibër General Jurisdiction Prosecution Office, together with media and civil society actors. The discussion focused on how the case is being handled within existing institutional frameworks, including designated contact points, the Prosecutor General’s circular and the State Police protocol on journalist safety. The Curri case is, in practical terms, a test of whether these mechanisms are activated and followed through when a local journalist is attacked far from Tirana.
“We urge institutions to conduct a swift investigation. This is crucial not only for the case of Sami Curri, but also to send a clear message that perpetrators will be brought to justice. It is important for law enforcement to remain engaged and ensure the safety of local reporters,” said Blerjana Bino, Executive Director of SCiDEV.
Bulqiza Ime is one of the local outlets supported through SCiDEV’s subgranting under the SMS Facility – Small Media Support in the Western Balkans, a regional project supported by the European Union. The case is also a reminder of why the SMS Facility exists. Bulqiza Ime represents exactly the kind of outlet the facility was designed to protect: small, locally embedded, covering what larger media do not, and exposed to pressures without adequate structural support. Following the attack, SCiDEV facilitated access to Free Press Unlimited’s immediate support mechanism, including partial financial support for a replacement vehicle, and continues to follow the case alongside the SafeJournalists Network and local partners.
About the Project
SMS Facility project is co-funded by the European Union and implemented by the Centar za promociju civilnog društva (CPCD) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in partnership with Center Science and Innovation for Development (SCiDEV) in Albania, KOSOVO 2.0 in Kosovo, Centar za demokratsku tranziciju (CDT) in Montenegro, Metamorphosis Foundation in North Macedonia, and Thomson Media gGmbH in Germany.
