The man who entered the office, broad-faced and tall, snapped at me: “You have violated the party’s law...” More than irritation, regret, or disgust, the words of the tall, broad-faced man made me feel fear. I felt years (of the thirty I have) more than I have felt in twenty years; at every step I have felt THE PEOPLE OF THE PARTY... Or have you forgotten the party man, the secretary of the basic organization, of the bureau, of the party committee, of the central committee, the commissar (even within the extended family)? The party man, the embodiment of crime, amorality, rape, secrecy, incompetence, selfishness... The shadowy man, the threat to human freedom and dignity, the embodiment of deceit, corruption, and everything evil. For 20 years he followed me like a shadow. Let others come forward and say that “they did not like the party man, did not support him, fought him.” Few believe their dissidence. My 20 years have not involved the slightest compromise with the party man. And they certainly cannot now. This is why I proclaim my “dissidence.” That is why I feel pain and fear at the gentleman sitting opposite me, threatening me that I have “apparently crossed the party line...” Now it is no longer the party man, that embodiment we spoke of; now there are THE PEOPLE OF THE PARTIES. It terrifies me to think that the party man, that first one, might be among them, and this pains me greatly. THE PEOPLE OF THE PARTIES are young and old. Is it in the hands of all these people to be young? Parties must have young people, first and foremost among their own ranks—I mean those who lead. I am talking about those who lead... These people of the parties. They choose the people beneath them, choosing them by democratic methods, but choosing them all the same. Do they choose the incompetent and the servile, or do they choose others who challenge them, who help them? The people of the parties are people of ideas (if they are). The people of the parties also choose the people in power... thinking about what they are choosing, and cutting short their own power. The people of the parties are vindictive: they extend or shorten (“What are we to do when our party is not in power?”). Are the people of the parties patriots, I wonder? The people of the parties ought to be patriots. Are the people of the parties—the members of parliament—patriots when they forget they are Albanian (if they are Albanian), members of the Albanian parliament...? The man opposite me is one of the people of the parties. Even though he is a small man, he saddens me, pains me, and makes me afraid, because I know the other people of the parties too, the more important ones; because this man sitting opposite me—and, unfortunately, he is not the only one—is that party man we mentioned at the beginning... “People of the parties, I implore you, do not become like the party man.” If you cannot, leave the parties!

ALBANIA AND ITALY TOWARD A TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP — Oskar Luigi Skalfaro visited Albania — As if to crown an almost half-century chapter of his political career, Oskar Luixhi Skagati—whose nearly half-century political career has followed the Adriatic between the two shores that separate Albania from Italy. Accompanied by an unusual number of journalists and specialists from various fields, during a day packed with meetings, statements and press conferences, he redefined the landscape of Albanian politics toward Italy, consistently marking its high point. Two agreements signed and the idea of a trea- (continued on page 2) ... [continuation of the article, partial text and unclear in the photograph] ...

While several projects concerning the operation and powers of presidential offices in the East had sprouted in former President Alia’s cabinet, a dispute broke out between the former president’s secretary, Vladimir Meçe, and comrade Krenar Loloçi, who at the time worked in Ramiz Alia’s cabinet. It has continued for a long time over just one point in this literature: the one concerning the adoption of children. According to a former senior employee of this cabinet, ever since Mr. Vladimir Meçe was given signing authority on this matter, there had been talk of corruption in the corridors of the courts and in the offices there. Immediately after Ramiz Alia’s resignation, Vladimir Meçe left for Germany and sought political asylum there. Meanwhile, Krenar Loloçi is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law. Should he be asked to comment on this matter? Now Mr. Loloçi’s students learn from their professor to defend the laws of the rule-of-law state, just as they learn that a colleague from his office violated the laws of the state in their professor’s presence. To be credible, at least in the eyes of his students, Mr. Loloçi must comment.

While the investigative team handling the April 2 case feels the pressure caused by the absence of footage of the events of April 2, it has emerged that former President Ramiz Alia’s secretary, Vladimir Meçe, went to Italy together with a member of the investigative team, B. Ymeri, and met with an Italian journalist who filmed the events. According to the material currently available, they brought back a film mutilated by cuts, with nothing of value for the investigation. It is certain that the film showed scenes from Shkodër’s April 2, not the presidency’s April 2, which dispels the suspicion that he might have tampered with the film to hide something. «Republika» correspondent

Former Deputy Minister of the Interior Aredin Shyti, in the retrial of the tragic April 2 case, sits in the dock as the accused, while former Minister of the Interior Gramoz Ruçi appears as a witness before the justice authorities. Now they appear confident, entirely confident and arrogant, at times during the hearings even more confident than the presiding judge or the prosecutor. This is astonishing, considering the first trial, when, although both had been summoned as witnesses, they could barely stay on their feet and were wiping away cold sweat. Where does all this confidence of the former State Security leaders come from?!! THE OBSERVER

(continued from the previous issue) For foreigners, Albania has been one of the countries where Christ and Muhammad showed that they can coexist in peace and harmony. (continued from the previous issue) For foreigners, Albania has been one of the countries where Christ and Muhammad showed that they can coexist in peace and harmony. The period of wars between them ended precisely with the conquest of Albania and belongs to a distant past in European history. The last crusade in history. Religion It tried to be organized in An- [text cut off and illegible] in 1463 by Pope Pius II, but failed because the crusaders did not assemble and because the Pope fell ill and died. Perhaps this was the Pope’s will: he placed Albania on the frontier where Christianity and Islam were compelled to coexist. The wars waged afterward ... [illegible text] ... Europe began to pursue the policy of ... ... [faded and partly illegible text] ... The nation ... [text] ... although until recently the Greek patriarchate forbade Christ from speaking Albanian, just as the Turkish clergy did the same to Muhammad. Equating religion with nation is not a European mindset, but a medieval one. In the Balkans, until recently—and even today, as has happened—Turks, Serbs, and Greeks have tried to make identification easy, calling Muslim Albanians Turks, Orthodox Albanians Greeks, Tiranology and other things ... Christian Europe, the “Italian League,” clerical accidents, Islamic media, the identifiers are not components of the nation. Europe ... and ... Europe is of the nation, from political union, religion and nation, from their equation ... ... whereas for some peoples, faith is one of the components of national identity. This thesis denies the universal character of religion, which cannot divide or erase the national characteristics of peoples, which are also elements of national identity. Its universal character enables Christianity and Islam to stand above nations, not to be identified with their other characteristics, and not to have assimilative tendencies. Otherwise, these faiths would not have achieved the wide dissemination they have among different nations and different races. This universal character makes them become poly- ... [illegible text] ... Politics ... of Christian doctrine. In Europe, the process of forming nations was accompanied in many countries by their separation from the hegemony of the Vatican and by the inclusion of the Bible in national languages. To bring that about, an Islam in Rome and a church in Arabia could tolerate neither war nor ... In the Balkans, meanwhile, reform and ...

In one of Tirana’s neighborhoods, aid for former political prisoners is being distributed by a former State Security colonel, whose name, despite our correspondent’s efforts, remained unidentified. “I will take no aid, not a single package, for myself,” declared the former State Security colonel. “It is all for the former political prisoners.” «Republika» correspondent

The madwoman N. of the capital did not appear on her usual route on Thursday or Friday—the main promenade, Hotel «Arbëria», Hotel «Tirana». Instead, throughout Thursday and Friday morning, unknown people (someone insisted that they were armed, too) ran back and forth between the entrance to Hotel «Arbëria» and «Tirana», and across from the Palace of Culture, hurriedly pasting up sheets written in red ink, as if afraid of the walls. From a distance, you could make out bombastic headlines: «The new solutions will come next week», «The list of Albania’s most prestigious intellectuals»... On some others you could read «Pornographic films of the week», «The strike of the National Unity Party». «Why didn’t the Democratic Party support the candidates of the National Unity Party?» «If it had supported us, we would have had not 4.86 percent of the seats, but 20 percent.» «The Secretary of State for Education is Albanian.» On Saturday, the madwoman N. did not appear on any of Tirana’s streets. THE CHRONICLER

My brother critics are born in me, if the «Justice» process is to be carried out, bringing back once again the everlasting distinction: whether in every crisis of law it is reopened or renewed; whether law belongs to the scientific title of practical and juridical science, or to the philosopher, or to the historian. The idea of Humanitas concerning law has been alive since the ancient republican era of the Roman Empire, and in fact also Republican, according to these studies ... ... [text cut off at the end and partly illegible] ... Vincenzo Sciascia (continued on page 2)