On 18 June 2024, journalist Freard Rista, working for the investigative program "Piranjat" on Syri TV, was physically assaulted while investigating alleged illegal dumping by Serena Furniture. The journalist arrived at the scene with the TV crew when the owner of the company, after insulting them, tried to snatch Rista's microphone and hit him on the premises of his private property. According to the SafeJournalists Network, Çepaj forcibly ejected Rista, smashed the cameraman's equipment and fled with the damaged camera. "Rista followed him, which resulted in Çepaj throwing stones at him, removing the memory card from the camera and further damaging it," the network wrote.