To condemn guilt is not guilt VISAR ZHITI A system was overturned peacefully; the people are almost the same, and society is almost the same as well. So is guilt. A person becomes less and less guilty when they begin to acknowledge their own guilt. It is precisely for this reason that the world has transformed the confession of sins—from a simple act of kneeling before an icon or altar—into an institution of the spirit. The responsibility society bears today in order to (self-)describe us all as accomplices contains within it a sense of guilt. This is naturally admirable, but going too far with it, abusing it, leads to another guilt. For if privileges were not distributed equally among everyone, there is no reason for guilt to be distributed equally either. We believe Franz Kafka when he explains that a totalitarian society is like a low-ceilinged tavern where not only the customers but also its owners are forced to stoop. Under dictatorship, everyone was bent over. I suppose even those who made up the ranks of the red nomenklatura complained. The machinery of persecution worked perfectly. It chose its raw material, its victims, not only from below, among the overthrown and oppressed, among those with a “bad biography,” but also from above, among the mediocre demigods, mingling with Zeus in the block that was paradise for the stomach and hell for the mind. In a way, being persecuted under the dictatorship made you feel less persecuted. I mean that once the state put you in handcuffs, you were immediately free of it, divorced from it for life, cast onto the side where the unfortunate, endangered opposition lived. That is why the party-state took measures to make the prison system organized just like the outside, so that one could be rearrested for political crimes before completing the previous sentence. But when the gods of socialism had decreed that you should be on their barricade, you felt more secure, like its monuments, in any case immortalized, deathless, an iron militant (you had more of the PPSH in your genes than DNA) and you did not dare rebel even a little. Thus, in you began the loss of balance, duplicity, unhappiness at a time when you were ordered to be happy. The acts of this drama seemed as if they would never end. Meanwhile, the zealous ones, those who boasted of their ignorance, who charged ahead to destroy even the farmers’ bread in order to build socialism, find it terribly difficult to understand that a system whose essence is the closure of classes is criminal; as such, unrealizable, and therefore antibiological—according to Georg Santanës. [text continues outside the frame] antibiological—according to Georg Santanës. Society moved toward progress slowly but surely, without strain, increasingly creating circumstances in which a person could better unfold their self, and neutralize the evil within themselves as much as possible, put it to sleep for as long as possible, if possible forever. Because totalitarian states and dictators do nothing other than create circumstances in which evil is activated; they awaken it—the instincts of destruction, genocide, division—and white-collar crime becomes a system. Naturally, the precursors of evil are condemnable. Peoples initially freed from physical dictatorship (and later from mental dictatorship) expect democracy to condemn dictatorship. Delay in condemning the dictator breeds disappointment. If the tragically absurd deeds of E. Hoxha were put on trial, their condemnation would make the later arrests of his descendants and disciples, and of those involved in corruption, more convincing. The dragging out of the process concerning the dictator’s status does not justify delaying the trial and condemnation of dictatorship itself. This is not easy. Because,

Milan Kuçan: At the end of his visit to our country, the President of Slovenia, Milan Kuçan, together with President Berisha, held a press conference. Asked by a journalist what Slovenia’s position would be in the event of possible aggression in Kosovo, Kuçan replied: “Our position toward aggression in Kosovo would be identical to our position toward aggression in sovereign Bosnia. Nevertheless, I do not believe Serbia will dare to undertake anything of that kind…” Although Slovenia has not officially recognized the Republic of Kosovo, on the basis of this statement it in fact sees its existence as a reality.

In the latest issues of the newspapers “Aleanca” and “Koha Jonë,” a notice was published stating that three Albanian journalists had been invited by the German Foreign Ministry, where, according to those newspapers, they would hold meetings in the German Parliament with political parties and press representatives. Since the announcement in these newspapers referred to meetings at such high levels, the Albanian Journalists’ Association contacted the German Embassy to learn more and received the following information. In fact, no official meetings are involved; this is simply an informational and educational visit, a practice very commonly used to familiarize various categories of Albanian citizens with the reality of Germany and how its institutions function. When official meetings and discussions are involved, the German state contacts the institutions of the Albanian state. The Albanian Journalists’ Association takes this opportunity to thank the German Embassy for the goodwill it showed in familiarizing Albanian citizens with European reality, choosing on this occasion people who have the greatest need to learn about that reality. The Executive Board of the Albanian Journalists’ Association Chairman: Ylli Rakipi

The American President receives the new Albanian ambassador On the occasion of the presentation of the credentials of the new Albanian ambassador Lublin Hasan Dilja to US President Bill Klinton, the latter declared that the USA would continue to support the reform process in Albania. On the occasion of the presentation of the credentials of the new Albanian ambassador, Lublin Hasan Dilja, to US President Bill Klinton, the latter declared that the USA would continue to support the reform process in Albania. “We,” President Klinton said, “greatly admire President Berisha’s courageous efforts to advance comprehensive political and economic reform as rapidly as possible, and we encourage your Government to continue these efforts with the same energy it has demonstrated so far. I can assure you that the USA will continue to support this key reform process.”

Albanian justice did not delay in bringing the 10 officials of the former communist regime to trial. Ten familiar names—Qirjako Mihali, Pali Miska, Besnik Bekteshi, Vangjel Çërrava, Prokop Murra, Llambi Geprifti, Muho Asllani, Hajredin Çeliku, Foto Çami and Lenka Çuko—all former members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the PPSH and senior officials of the monist state, appeared before the court accused of the crime of violating citizens’ equality through the creation of privileges, committed in collaboration. Since 1952, when a Council of Ministers decision established in Albania the Reception Directorate, directly subordinate to the Council of Ministers itself, the violation of citizens’ equality and the creation of privileges became the true face of the Albanian communist leadership. This Reception Directorate institutionalized 131 villas and holiday homes for communist leaders, with a staff of 640 people looking after them. Numerous production lines for various food products and personal shops were reserved exclusively for the leadership. The extensive expenses and purchases of luxury goods abroad, paid for in cash foreign currency, became standard practice for them. With the acknowledgment of P. Miska, H. Çeliku and V. Çerrava, the defendants had the state treasury pay for their dental work and other services, without paying anything themselves. According to the indictment presented by the prosecutor at the hearing, all the defendants together embezzled 15 million dollars of the people’s money. “It is the irony of fate that I find myself today in Tirana Prison instead of enjoying the pension for the 43 years I have worked,” defendant Pali Miska told the court. Such a statement once again shows that the communist leaders believed only in the fate they had predetermined, only in their privileges, only in their power, never doubting what they were doing and never once imagining that they might be committing crimes in their work. The defendant Qirjako Mihali seeks to exonerate himself by saying, “I did not create the treatment provided by the Reception Directorate; I found it already established by Adil Çarçani.” But in his explanations, Deputy Prime Minister Qirjako Mihali forgets that, at least in the criminal reality, the crime of those who carried it out is just as great as the crime of those who designed it. All the more so when these communist leaders were the ones who enjoyed that reality more than anyone. And to justify the number of rooms he added to his villa in Durrës, the defendant Qirjako Mihali said: “A bathroom is not a room. Adding a bathroom is culture.” This is truly the measure of such a leader in periods deemed “uncultured,” when people lived for 50 years in chicken-coop houses. The trial of the 10 officials of the former communist dictatorship is a trial of their own times. It is fortunate for them that they are being tried today in a different reality, where one’s home … [the source text is garbled and ends here] GJERGJ PILIKA

Turkey, even after Özal, is determined to play its role forcefully in the Balkans. This reality is also confirmed by the tour the Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Çetin is making in several countries of the Peninsula, excluding Belgrade and Athens. The region’s greatest military and economic power, and the fifth European country to send its own satellite into space that day, Turkey is committed to playing a role in shaping our troubled region. Papandreou has set off for Washington to seek support, [continues beyond the visible edge]. And to justify the number of rooms he enjoys in his villa in Durrës, the defendant Qirako [text continues beyond the edge of the image] … democratic [government/side] welcomed him warmly, emphasizing at every level that Turkey can play a balancing and peace-bringing role in the Balkans. Meanwhile, recognition of Macedonia continues to remain a sensitive issue in this historical and geographical context, so troubled, while Russia finds itself in political confusion. Jorgos Papandreu is heading to Washington for support, at the same time as Greece [continues beyond the visible edge]. With the exception of Belgrade and Athens, Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Çetin. The greatest military and economic force in the region, space on this day, Turkey has pledged to play a role in calming our troubled region. For Albania, the presence of Serbia alongside its borders has always been a bad chance, just as it has been a good chance that “the Turkish Empire” lies alongside the borders of Greece. The projects Çetin presented in Tirana concerned a pan-Balkan vision, both economically and politically. Turkey in no way supports Slavic Orthodox fundamentalism and Co., from which the Balkans—and why not “distant” Europe too—will never have any security. In every context, Çetin described Albania as a friendly, brotherly country. Albania owes these considerations neither money, nor gold, nor goods, but owes them to three Ndërqak congresses; in the courtrooms at the trials of the byroists, witnesses are missing, because the people are a historical witness and not a factual witness to a particular crime. Besides, witnesses. Be careful: whoever shouts loudest against corruption, prove it. they will also build new villages where nobody will by socialism than some level of corruption under capitalism. ELIDA BUÇPAPAJ

The communist dictatorship in Albania was a dictatorship that made the innocent guilty; it made [...] guilty, but it gave the clearest proof of its criminal nature in its treatment of its political prisoners. Not only because it locked them up in prisons for a whole part of their lives, and not only because it inhumanely exploited their manual labor (although the Albanian Government had signed the International Charter against discrimination in this work and against inequality in the treatment of political prisoners), when former political prisoners have made their foremost political priority precisely their return to normal life with human dignity. Let us not forget: The days and nights of violence against them; the “Gaz”-es of the Interior Affairs branches who informed on people in the prisons; the accusations against them for asking for more freedom, for asking for more food for their children, for saying a word about the West, for asking to be freer, for sitting close together and talking about the shortage of salt!!! Let us not forget: They were ALL HUMAN BEINGS. People with children as young as six, who were reached by the Albanian policy of imprisonment and sentenced behind prison bars. Inform on your cellmate, or else... otherwise your wife and daughter and granddaughter will become street sweepers! Speak! A hundred escaped, they stayed, but we should absolutely not make a fuss about those who did not manage to put us in prison, those convicted for one reason or another, who “grew tired,” who “gave in.” But even without their “testimony,” the person who had been slated for imprisonment would have been imprisoned, the person who had to [text unclear]. Who is playing games?! Is it still not clear to us? Are we still trying to triumph over their shattered lives, over their speeches, destroyed once and for all? Who is playing games? Do we still want names? Here they are—even among the members of parliament, yesterday’s ex-communists. They are still asking questions and accusing today’s Government, supposedly because this government, left impoverished (since yesterday, with this people’s money, they built not houses but prisons), is not looking after former political prisoners. Who is playing games? Do we still not know who opened and filled the files of those whom it had itself crushed, opening dossiers and filling them with the names of its prison “informers”? Among them are also people who, because of yesterday’s destruction of their lives, have forfeited “the right to give in,” the right to be. The right that, though they considered themselves human, they also persecuted people of their own kind; among them are those who became deeply involved in their own criminal games and now, now that democracy has given them freedom, given them the right finally to become human beings, find it difficult truly to feel that they are. They accuse one another, driven by the mistakes of the past, from the time of the watched cell, sometimes by name and sometimes anonymously—more often out of self-interest, and sometimes playing the game of their former guards. In the end, under surveillance, people watch one another, sometimes by name and sometimes anonymously. Freedom seems to be dividing those who suffered together under the dictatorship, but this is undoubtedly only an appearance. Freedom does not divide those who were imprisoned in order to divide them. Is freedom coming to the aid of the former persecuted, while still tormenting them with their former victims? This must be stopped as soon as possible. The responsibility for doing so belongs to everyone: first and foremost to the former prisoners, but no less to us, the people who were not imprisoned back then, and no less to the duty and mission of the new democratic state. Congratulations to those who compelled the opening of these files, and to those who to this day are still playing their cards. GRAMOZ HOXHA

The madwoman N, while ... is owed neither money, nor gold, nor anything else now, but owes the people three things. She appeared at a packed congress of the Ndërqak. In the ceremonial halls on the boulevard, at the trial of the byroists, there are no witnesses in Kiskovë without end, and after the witnesses, since the people constitute a historical witness and not a factual one to a particular crime, she threw two or three fresh eggs at the witness and launched into a speech about a particular crime. Then, in a moving tone: “The electric lights must be switched off; the courtroom cannot hold the people, so there are no witnesses. Be careful: whoever shouts loudest against corruption, testify. Is there anything in this advice? As for the new talents coming forward, especially in literature, the condition must be understood: their number, since they are outside the plan for increasing the Kondo population. The unity of the opposition lies in the fair distribution of income. If this matter is reopened, or if second salaries are discovered, unity will be done for. May God not condemn that reading in the newspapers all the way to the end. Corruption is coming to an end, because the corrupt have decided to leave for new lands, where they have been socially settled. There they will also build new villages where nobody will ever be corrupt. Better the grace of a totalist state compromised by socialism than some level of corruption under capitalism.” Kronikani