Adem Meta awarded with Citizens Award for Courage in 2012

FOL Movement at a the annual party, awarded for the fourth time the Citizens Award for Courage. This award was presented to Mr. Adem Meta. Mr. Adem Meta is a lawyer and a devoted activist for the last twenty years. Mr. Meta gave a valuable contribution during the period before the war where he was the secretary of the Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms in Skenderaj and then as a journalist, since the establishment of the newspaper Koha Ditore, informing local and international opinion on the sensational developments of that time.
After the public appearance of the KLA in 1997, through the public information he has played an important role in popularizing and presenting KLA actions and presenting the harsh repression of the Serbian police against civilians. Despite the risks to his life, Adem has followed in the war zones and the entire territory of the municipality, local journalists and international media as well as numerous international delegations. Throughout the war, wherever Adem was, there was a credible source of information and he was very cooperative for all those who wanted to learn about the reality of that time.
After the war, Mr. Meta has continued to be very active in civil society (CDHRF, KAC-i). As a journalist he has consistently been critical of all the irregularities of the actual government after the war, and as a result he won several national and international recognition, but because of his professionalism, especially since 2008, he has also encountered lots of difficulties at work. They reached the peak during the elections in 2010 in Skenderaj, and is continuing even today, not only holding back doing his job freely as a journalist but also threatening and attacking in various forms. Not even his family was spared from threatening. Mr. Meta continues to be a trusted and valuable voice for fair and objective information of the citizens of the Municipality of Skenderaj and beyond.

Halil Matoshi, a publicist at the same time member of the Advisory Board of FOL Movement, said “FOL Movement by presenting the Citizens Award for Courage recognizes and supports the valuable contribution of Mr. Meta and who is a good example of professional journalism and courage, he further added that Mr.Meta should be a good example for journalism in Kosovo.
Petrit Zogaj, the executive director of FOL said ” FOL Movement is closing this year, likewise the other three years, on an event, which is trying to support, protect and thank individuals who, although encountered difficulties in performing their daily work, did not stop at any moment to inform the public, to open debates on certain issues and to protect their right causes. Mr. Meta is an example of a dedicated citizen, who does not compromise on principles, being willing to accept the risks that may come.

Winners of this award in the last three years were: Mr. Rufki Suma, an independent candidate who won the election for mayor Hani Elezit, Mrs Ajnishahe Shala-Halimi and Mr. Ejup Bajrami, while this year the award was presented to Adem Meta.