Albania The minor's creepy testimony in the court room: Brown raped me

May 22, 2008

Comment: The trial against the British David Brown, accused for sexual abuse of minors in Albania, took place in mid-May 2008. Three of the minors, suspected to have suffered abuse from Brown at the center “His Children”, gave their testimonies during the trial through a video-conference. During the trial of David Brown, CILPS was involved by providing a psychologist for the assistance of the minors during the interrogation process by the judge.

This selected article presents the trial in a sensational style playing on assumed feelings of the minor witnesses. It also tries to draw an overheated picture on the trial using strong expressions, for example, “the boy confessed the terror he had experienced”.

It violates the privacy rights and the principle of protection of the identity several times. The journalist reveals the age, the sex, the physical features and the initials of the minor witnesses. The author of the article does not pay much attention to the best interest of the children rather seeks for sensation and scandal.

(This Press review is under the framework of EIDHR funded project, implemented jointly with the Legal Clinic for Minors, Albania)

More press reviews on the trial of David Brown: Shqip, Gazeta Shqiptare