The FOL Movement, as a member of the European Coalition Against SLAPPs (CASE), organized a meeting today to highlight one of the biggest challenges to freedom of expression and public participation.

The event brought together representatives from civil society, the justice system, the media, and international partners, who discussed the spread of these lawsuits and the urgent need for a stronger legal and institutional framework to address them.

The executive director of the FOL Movement, Mexhide Demolli-Nimani, emphasized the role of inter-institutional cooperation in the fight against SLAPP lawsuits.

“The purpose of this is that we, as a cooperative mechanism between activists, civil society, the media, the justice system, and international partners, share a common goal to address and prevent this phenomenon... I hope this open discussion will be productive, providing us with more information toward creating a stronger legal and institutional framework that prohibits any form of abuse of justice aimed at intimidation and silencing,” she said.

The head of the rule of law unit at the EU Office, Jarmo Helppikangas, praised the proactive steps already taken by Kosovo in this area.

“As you may know, the deadline for EU member states is 2026. Becoming familiar with this topic, I was pleased to see that Kosovo has already taken proactive steps and has project activities that include exactly the relevant actors, including prosecutors and judges, with study visits carried out to see how this works elsewhere… These initiatives currently underway to prepare legislation and prepare the actors are essential. They are truly necessary, and we will strongly encourage that they continue to be carried out with professionalism, transparency, and detailed consultation procedures, even before entering parliament and throughout the process there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Judge Ermir Ahmetaj of the Basic Court in Prishtina underlined the lack of detailed analysis regarding SLAPP lawsuits in the country.

Ahmetaj said that in recent years the judiciary has been more active in handling such lawsuits, with support coming from the EU Office.

The activation of the FOL Movement, within the European coalition against SLAPP lawsuits, is very important because, as also noted in the 2024 country report, there is still no clear analysis identifying lawsuits related to the public participation of various civil society actors in Kosovo. The judiciary in Kosovo, especially in recent years, has been more active in handling cases of lawsuits for protection of reputation from defamation and insult, with main support coming from the EU Office and the Council of Europe,” said Ahmetaj.

Finally, the head of the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AGK), Xhemajl Rexha, brought concrete examples of cases containing elements of SLAPP lawsuits.

“We have had some cases that we identified or that had elements of SLAPP in the past, and we noted that it is interesting and surprising that they were more related to other public figures and not necessarily politicians. There are many threats of lawsuits from politicians that do not always materialize, they are only for political and public effect… Recently we received a notice from a local television in Prizren that a former politician sued them because his car was photographed, and he demanded compensation of 50,000 euros,” said Rexha.

A SLAPP lawsuit is a strategic lawsuit against public participation. These types of lawsuits are not intended to win in court but aim to intimidate, exhaust, or silence journalists, activists, NGOs, or citizens who raise their voice on issues of public interest—such as corruption, abuses, or misuse of power.