Wrote: Etrit Rexhepi
"Conditions for the conditional release of Thaçi and others have been met" is the title given to a published article.
it CONTENT was published yesterday (May 29) by an Albanian-language media outlet, named "BotaeLajmeve.info".
What's wrong with the content title?
The assertion that the conditions for the conditional release of Thaçi and others have been met is presented in the headline as a confirmed fact, although in the content of the article it stems from an opinion of the defense attorney, something that is not clearly disclosed in the headline.
The same content was also shared on this medium's Facebook page (see here).
The illustrative photo accompanying the article shows former President Hashim Thaçi and other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who are being tried by the Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
The title of the news is important because it contains the topic of the text (see here).
While at the top of this news (see here), which summarizes the main topic of the news, it is written that "On Monday, the defense of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, along with his co-accused, is expected to file a motion to dismiss some of the counts of the indictment at the Specialist Chambers in The Hague.".
This indicates a discrepancy between the message conveyed by the title and what is presented in the article's headline.
In the next paragraph, where the material supporting the headline is presented, it is written that "Regarding this process, the lawyer licensed at the Special Court, Artan Çerkini, on the "Info Plus" show on RTK, emphasized that this procedure constitutes a new and important step for the justice system involving Kosovo citizens.
So, in this paragraph it is explained that the information presented in the chapter came from a statement by a lawyer, part of the defense of the accused in the trial in The Hague. The rest of the article is built from three statements directly quoted by lawyer Çerkini.
Second statement of lawyer Çerkini, quoted directly, says: "I think that now all legal conditions for conditional release have been met, because detention is the strictest measure for ensuring the presence of the defendant in criminal proceedings. In addition to detention, there are other alternative measures. The more the procedure advances, the more the security measures should be relaxed,".
It is clarified here that the information contained in the title represents a legal opinion or interpretation from the lawyer in question.
Hibrid.info has found that according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 23, paragraph 4, it is clarified that: The pre-trial judge is competent to determine independently whether the imposition or continuation of the deprivation of liberty of the defendant is procedurally or constitutionally permissible. The pre-trial judge has the duty to order the release of the defendant whose deprivation of liberty is not procedurally or constitutionally permissible. (see here).
Given that the Specialist Chambers operate within the Kosovo judicial system, conditional release for the accused in this process depends on the decision of the court of this tribunal. This means that not specifying the information in the title as an opinion, in this case, may cause the audience to read the information as confirmed fact.
Given that the Specialist Chamber operates within the Kosovo judicial system, the decision to release the defendants on bail in this process rests solely with the court of this tribunal. Therefore, the failure to clearly reflect the information as an opinion in the headline may lead the audience to interpret it as confirmed fact.
Hibrid.info has found articles published by other media, where it is clarified right from the title that the information about fulfilling the conditions for the conditional release of Thaçi and others comes as a statement by lawyer Çerkini (see here, here and here).
Analyze
Title "Conditions for the conditional release of Thaçi and others have been met" is not appropriate, as it presents a subjective opinion as confirmed fact.
This title presents the statement of a defense attorney as a judicial finding, without making it clear that it is an individual statement, not an official court decision.
Based on the working methodology, hibrid.info evaluates the content presented in this form as "Clickbait".
rationale
“Clickbait” is considered to be informational content whose title is general and does not disclose the location of the event, context and relevance. Such texts and articles aim to attract the attention of the audience with sensational headlines with misleading consequences, which do not accurately clarify the content of the article. “Clickbait” headlines are mainly made to attract readability in the case of media publications and/or to earn from clicks in the case of commercial publications.