— STATEMENT BY MR. GODO — Last week, the decision on the phased privatization of state farms was announced, using the same criterion as the law on land, which disregards private property. At the meeting organized by the government and later in Mr. Uka’s television interview, it was said that the parliamentary political parties had also approved the decision on this format. As far as the Republican Party is concerned, there is a misunderstanding. At the beginning of September I had sa— 2. In the economic reform we have begun, the division of land is the most important element, with a view to the present and the future. The Republican Party opposed the land law from the outset because it does not take private property into account. Parliament will now make some ... amendments to the land law (continued on page 2) The Albanian journalists had an association with a statute ... which, just as ... lack ...

At the invitation of the Republican Party, a PRSH delegation headed by Mr. Sabri Godo left for Italy today. The delegation will take part in the proceedings of the congress of the Italian Republican Party. On Saturday, the Chairman of the PRSH, Mr. Sabri Godo, held a meeting with the commander of Operation “Pelikan,” Brigadier General Karlo Çaçi. The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Tarikone, also attended the meeting. Mr. Godo was accompanied by the PRSH Secretary General, Çerçiz Mingomataj, and the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Ylli Rakipi. We will publish more detailed information about this meeting in the next issue.

“Over these 50 years, the population has tripled, and the figure of 97 percent today becomes 32 percent. So where will 67 percent of the rest of the population get land?” (ZP, 6.11.1992). Questions like these are extremely difficult for people who have not changed their views on logical arithmetic. Believing that Mr. Jup does not belong to this category of people, we remind him of the fact known to everyone that the tripling of Albania’s population did not result from an influx from abroad. businessmen. From this group we selected businessmen who were appropriated, with all the sums these businessmen had invested in a business being seized at the last moment. Sejdia. As the public has been informed, despite everything, business tycoons from the government and politics were also left in the lurch. There are no names yet. The new development is that Mr. Sejdia has found an original way to fill the big hole. Its filling will begin soon. For this new investment, former president Sejdia will use the dollars he owes Albanian businessmen. From this group ... government officials from ... stabilizing forces have also decided; it is known that, besides the big hole behind the Palace of Culture in Tirana, many young and inexperienced Albanian businessmen were also left in the lurch, all the sums they had invested in a business being snatched from them group ... For his part, Sejdia has declared that anyone who refuses to throw in their own stakes to fill the hole will be put in the hole themselves to fill the portion that falls to them. “Each one their own,” Mr. Sejdia said when asked why he had made this latest decision.

For some time, the Albanian market has been overrun by a highly organized, mysterious company. We are talking about the “Cocoon,” “Karelia,” “Pine tree,” “Country,” “Pallas” and other brands of cigarettes, which can be found every day in every kiosk, simply on the street, and in every establishment. Where do these beautifully packaged products come from, almost like those sold in European markets? Who is their boss in Albania? There are rumors that people from the former high-ranking communist nomenklatura are at the head of this trafficking. A Greek journalist, J. Z, confirmed that all these types of cigarette packs are suspect and outside the prescribed standards; they are even produced using “tobacco” raw material made from waste that is dangerous to people’s health. Where is all this merchandise produced? How does it enter Albania? Packs bearing the aforementioned names are sold at prices nowhere near those at which they are marketed in Europe. The particular new development is that this merchandise can be found in the same quantities in all the countries of the East; the tobacco markets in these countries have been overrun by the same kind of cigarettes. This means that the real bosses of this smuggling operation have taken over and control all the markets of the East. The bosses in Albania, still shrouded in mystery, are merely servants of the great mafia that controls the whole East. Should all this serve as an alarm for the criminal police and the state inspectorate?

The former president of the mysterious company “Iliria Holling SA,” after his “vacations” with officials of the stabilizing governments, is known to have left not only the great hole behind the Palace of Culture in Tirana, but also many young and inexperienced Albanian businessmen out of pocket, having snatched at the last moment all the sums they had invested in ... As a result, many rumors have arisen, “which may well be true.” It is not true that the chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly will close off part of this hole on its western side, where the ... of Sejdia’s imaginary hotel are located. It is absolutely untrue that Mr. Islami lost 30 thousand dollars in business with H. Sejdia, as is written ...

At yesterday’s press conference of the “Democratic Alliance” Party, in response to the question, “Will you begin a dialogue with Serbia or Yugoslavia?”, Arben Imami replied: “We will begin dialogue with the Serbs once the Yugoslav conflict has been resolved.” The Yugoslav conflict may be considered over once the question of Kosovo has been resolved. According to Imami, “the Democratic Alliance considers the question of the Albanians in Kosovo resolved under Serbia.”

STATEMENT BY THE ALBANIAN HELSINKI COMMITTEE ON THE EXONERATION OF ALL FORMER POLITICAL PRISONERS In our country, many former political prisoners have still not received legal exoneration. They have only been amnestied and, as a result, do not enjoy the rights of citizens with no criminal convictions. Law 7514, dated 30.9.1991, “On the Pardon, Amnesty and Rehabilitation of Former Political Prisoners and Persecuted Persons,” excludes from the scope of exoneration people who were convicted of offenses provided for in Chapter I of the Penal Code as crimes against the State. But the articles in this politicized chapter are based on a notion of the Homeland and the State that recognizes them only as socialist and as belonging to the dictatorship of the proletariat. People who may have organized movements or uprisings, or taken part in them to overthrow this dictatorship, were convicted of treason against the Homeland and, under the aforementioned law, do not obtain exoneration. Exoneration should be granted not only to people convicted for their political beliefs, but also to those who acted to put their democratic beliefs into practice. (Continued on page 3)

When Dom Simon worked as a priest in the village of Ungrej, in Lezhë, serving in the district of Lezhë and collaborating with the State Security service, it became publicly known that he had informed on the entrepreneur Maliq Sokoli. He went so far as to photograph him in an intimate encounter and report him. Maliq Sokoli, then, is living proof, a victim of the “man of God,” Dom Simon Jubani. WHERE IS THE CHURCH’S MONEY? In 1991 Dom Simon Jubani visited the USA. In Detroit alone, at the Albanian Catholic Church, 280,000 US dollars were collected from compatriots and religious institutions, not counting other large sums collected in New York and everywhere else. All of it was handed directly to Dom Simon. Where did Dom Simon take the money? PAULIN GJONAJ, doctor, Lezhë

The Albanian journalists had an association with a statute ... an organization called the “Union of Journalists of Albania” existed, which, just as ... on paper was nothing more than a relationship with the Central Committee of the PPSH. There had always been a lack ... ... there had always been a lack. A group initiated by the journalists A. Kallamata and N. Zoto also held a meeting at which the statute for journalists, to be submitted to the Albanian parliament, was discussed, but this initiative came to nothing. Another group, with Thanas Mustaqi and others, managed to hold a meeting on its own; they were not representatives of all journalists and, at a newspaper association, discussed ... Albanian Journalists’ Association: DECEPTION AND SPECULATION ... elected journalists ... the organizer of the “Journalists’ Association” goes even further with the work ... In Tirana to obtain visas (see the document published on page 3). It is not known how many joint secretaries this so-called association has. The one elected by forty-twelve is Gani Leka; at the Russian embassy and elsewhere appears ... Thanas Mustaqi. It is not known how many co-chairmen this association has or what rank ... R. Lani rightly complained in the newspaper “Zëri i Rinisë” about a disregard for Albanian journalists, an administration of ... But what other position could the embassies reflect ... ... belongs to the state, others say that the seal is now held by a reorganized group. It is clearly a farce, and what else? Will the deceptions and frauds continue? The initiative of liberalization with the advent of democracy creates the opportunity to establish parties and associations. But we thought it would be best to mobilize a broad group of Albanian journalists to decide. Journalists who are not currently working for newspapers, but are known for their contribution, representatives of the Academy of Sciences, the Writers’ League, and, more generally, people of letters with authority—not dilettantes and speculators—should also be invited to this group. We thought that the organization established for publication should be representative of all journalists, regardless of their political and party convictions. REPUBLIKA

“ZP” — 80 percent of the land has been distributed according to the law. This figure shows that the law has been accepted. — I don’t think so. Rather, 90 law, but this figure also includes a form of taking the law into one’s own hands in the distribution of land. We made our comments on this law a year ago. We believe the law cannot be patched up with amendments. “ZP” — Will there be restrictions on large landowners, and how far will these restrictions go? What percentage of the peasants will receive land? — Parliament has the right to impose certain restrictions on large landowners in Albania. We will express our opinion on this issue when it is discussed. As for the question about peasants who will have land, I can tell you that 87 percent of the peasantry have been owners. “ZP” — Does the RP’s concept of property differ from that of the electoral peasantry of March 22? — In the RP’s program, as regards private initiative, there is no difference. It is true that during the campaign we stated that property should be recognized within the boundaries of collectivization. We say frankly that at that time we could not advance our position before an electorate with a communist mindset, to which “ZP” made an important contribution. At our first congress, we advanced and defined the position we had put forward. “ATSH” — Have other democratic states carried out reform, and what course have they followed? — Other states have a long history; I don’t know what course they have follow—