Someone must take care of keeping that square clean, because mud sticks easily to fresh blood. The former PPSH committee building in Shkodër is now to be reconstructed, following a local tender by the municipality. And work has begun. The walls damaged by bullet marks will be replastered, new windows will be installed, traces of communist and anti-communist slogans will be erased, and the offices will be filled with other people. The places where the snipers hid, the telephones that received the orders, and everything else will change. About a hundred metres in front of it, the memorial stone will remain, honouring those killed by shots fired from the building opposite. Three years after the deaths of April 2, they will be made an inventory. After the many thefts that took place following the destruction of the PPSH building—such as the thefts of bricks, unheard-of doors, iron bars and everything else—the deaths of that day are also at risk of being stolen. Broci, Beshanaku, Ceka, and Kryeziu, exhumed and reburied time and again for examinations, are now experiencing the exhumation of theft. The shadows of their killers wander the mournful paths of the cemetery, seeking ownership over them. At rally squares, other people are trying to summon their restless spirits to their aid. In the streets of Shkodër, in its halls and on its walls, the gravediggers are trying to imitate those who denied the delay of freedom. Beyond their chorus, others are trying to imitate them at press conferences, in the parliamentary chamber, and at rally squares. Now their deaths must once again be made to last as long as their lives did when they were killed. If Arben Broci were to rise again and return to the square in front of the former PPSH committee, he would be astonished not only by the building’s façade plans, but also by the political façade. Those who stood opposite him that day may now stand beside him and call on him once again to overthrow things, to bring about a “great overthrow,” as “back then.” He will remind them of the wounds he suffered at their hands, while they will tell him that their wound is even more terrible. They have been left without power. That is as unbearable for them as other people’s lives were when they were in power. If Arben Broci returns THEY will naturally shoot him again, as they did with the bullet on April 2. Besides the commotion of reconstructing the PPSH building, besides the dust and mud, besides the unavoidable noise of the day, they will also be in the square. Someone must take care to keep that square clean, because mud sticks easily to blood. The sooner, the better. April 2 is a denial of the delay of freedom.

The herd instinct...

The Albanian Republican Party published in a brochure the “Draft Law on the Return of Ownership of Agricultural Land” and its explanatory memorandum. Given its substance, agrarian complexity and the place this problem occupies in the PR programme, this brochure will contribute to addressing the issue within the Republican Party. Through its intellectual commitment and civic responsibility for the nation’s future, the party is consolidating and growing in the eyes of the people as a serious political force, committed to a better future for the country. Foreign capital expects us to respond realistically by recognising property, not with figures. Today, as democratisation and political emancipation gain ground and space, PROPERTY AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY and PROPERTY OWNERS have become a closely linked chain, seeking to orient the country toward the free-market path. Law 7501 on land blocks the way to the free market. Today, this law and the PR Draft Law have been set against one another. The first was signed by Ramiz Alia and approved by Parliament and the current Government (which pretend to recognise reality yet insist on implementing its division-by-portion, while denying ownership); the second is the PR’s (enshrined in the memory of generations, leaving no room for the implementation of Law 7501). And this is because the Albanian has always been the absolute master of his own property, which was sanc-

On Friday, April 8, at 10:00, the National Council will meet to discuss current political affairs, the issue of the land law, and matters concerning the party’s organisation. It is recommended that the branch’s steering committee meet so that it can attend the Council meeting better prepared.

Clinton writes to Berisha President Berisha has received a letter from US President Bill Clinton. In it, the American President thanks President Berisha and highly commends his support for NATO’s decision of last month, and says that the USA will continue to rely on the assistance of Albania and other friends in the region to resolve the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. ATSH

In the last three days of March, around 800 refugees from Greece returned at the Kakavijë border crossing. On average, more than 230 people returned each day. Among them were refugees with valid documents who had been working in Greece for several years. Some of them had been mistreated by the Greek police. A refugee with valid documents, who refused to be identified, showed those present the marks left on his body by rubber batons. Meanwhile, the arm of the refugee from Tepelena, Agron Sejdi, had been left disabled by the beatings. Astrit Nelo, from Tepelena, had been robbed of 100,000 drachmas without being given a return document. Pellumb Shehu from Gjilava says that after beating him, they tore up his valid-visa passport. They did the same to Eqerem Zeneli from Aranitasi, whom they insulted and whose passport with a valid visa they also tore up. ATSH

Imagination Madam Fon Kohl, you have been to Albania several times, but I have never had the chance to see you. Whenever you have visited Albania, speaking in a sort of half-Albanian, you have promptly spewed nothing but venom. Madam, only God is infallible, so pray to Him to forgive your sins, now that the heavens are open for Easter. Madam, forgive me for never having happened to be there when you visited Tirana, so that I could offer you one of the services I imagine you might need: Madam, you are extremely ugly, you are a hideous old hag and barren. I pray to God on this Easter Night to forgive my harshness, but I say this because I am convinced that this is truly what you are like. I would never have concerned myself with your person, honored lady, but when you claim the right to lie about Albanians, then my instinct for self-defense and my national pride give me the right and allow me to say of you that you are an ugly, hideous, barren old hag. (Imagine if it really is true.) Madam, if I had not heard your distant voice as a BBC interviewee on the day the Albanian delegation was in London, making predictions about Albanians and Albania, I would never have remembered you. But since you crossed every boundary of diplomatic courtesy and politeness, as well as every basic standard of good manners, I will not apologize either for my impressions of you as an old woman... ugly... and barren. In your interview, madam, you said that “Albanians now appear to have changed, that they are dressed, noisy and free,” “but that,” you continued, madam, “is only one side of the medal. The other side of the medal is that Albania is a very poor country...” And then, with your viper’s tongue, you went on promptly spewing venom. How much were you paid for interviews like that, madam? I believe it was far more than you would get for giving such an interview as a beautiful combination—believe me! Madam, when you note a foul smell, “that Albanians have become noisy and free,” in fact this very liberation of Albanians has come as the result of a radical change: Albanians have now escaped the obsession with fear, lest Elida Bucpapa

In the newspaper “Aleanca” dated April 2, 1994, in an article titled “For Another Political Morality in Albania,” Ardian Klosi and Edi Rama claim that they are building a new moral platform. In the newspaper “Aleanca” dated April 2, 1994, in an article titled “For Another Political Morality in Albania,” Ardian Klosi and Edi Rama claim that they are building a new moral platform—that is, changing not only the morality of politicians but also that of the nation. From the outset, the authors’ “new political morality” catches the eye. While claiming they went to Gjorkastër at the invitation and with the support of PAD, in the very same paragraph they describe that party and themselves as “the group without a backbone and with the abuser on the Albanian political scene.” Of course, there is nothing immoral about belonging to a political party or supporting a platform. That is their right. The problem arises when you hide behind false labels, aimed at others, or conceal your political sympathies and preferences. In that case, you may resemble a prostitute who, after having sex without regard to religion, region, or ideology, claims and keeps repeating, “after all, I am a decent woman.” Thus the immoral take it upon themselves to teach us “morality.” Such an attitude is not merely laughable; it is socially dangerous, because the morality of the immoral is trying to become a national morality. There is no doubt that the conclusion Mr. Ngjela draws in his preoccupation—that PAD has turned into a branch of the PS—is simply true. In this case, in my view, the socialists are the moral ones, because everyone knows and repeats the alternative these platforms have chosen, whereas the immoral ones are those who conceal this affiliation and even try to offer us proof of their honesty. What draws one’s attention in the morality of this platform is the perverse light in which it presents issues of foreign policy, the national question, and national morality. The authors are right when they say that the word “patriot” is exploited, just as the words “honest” and “independent” are exploited. The concepts and words are not to blame for this, and this cannot be used to argue that patriotism should not exist. The exploitation lies precisely in what was said and who said it at the “Political Bureau of the PD” on Mount Dajti. The conclusions drawn from Nano’s words are just like him: wanting to show, with evidence, the “conspiracy” being prepared against him (the trial is political, not for ordinary crimes), he brings up several other issues that may help him but weigh on the PS. The first issue is that there are apparently thieves within the highest state and party institutions. Is this not a suggestion to the Government to show insight and purge corrupt people from the institutions (which is entirely justified)? The second issue is that the Sigurimi continues to function in a fully organized way under the leadership of the PS. There is also a third possibility: that everything Nano says in the courtroom is nonsense. If so, then these absurd claims must be refuted immediately and Nano must also be convicted of slander. P.DERVISHI

From the course of Nano’s trial, two things seem paradoxical and surprising to me: First—the silence of Nano and his defenders during the trial, instead of proclaiming the accusation point by point with convincing arguments (understandably, if the balance of justice were to tip in his favor). Second—Nano’s profound and intimate knowledge, despite being in prison, of everything happening in the highest circles of the Albanian state, perhaps even in government ministers’ bedrooms. Defendant Nano, tell us who the people are who meet in room 4, at what time they gather, and what they talk about. He recounts, word for word, what Mr. Meksi said (the statement placed in quotation marks), directly accusing him of ordering or instigating the attack on Mr. T. Keko. In the courtroom, Nano identifies, among that whole mass of wires, which one is the microphone wire in his cell. He tells us which one, among that whole mass of tape recorders, belongs to SHIK. He tells the court where judges and prosecutors go at every hour of the day, night, and evening, whom they meet, and what they say to them. His eye and ear reach right to the top of the state and PD pyramid; for example, he knows other issues that immediately and Nano must also be convicted of slander.

Being Albanian outside Albania p. 3 Failure to recognise property has hindered foreign investment p. 2

ON THE RETURN OF PROPERTY ON AGRICULTURAL LAND (November 1993) Law on the Return of Property on Agricultural Land” and its explanatory memorandum. Given its substance, its agrarian complexity, and the place this issue occupies in the PR’s program, this brochure will contribute to addressing the problems of the Albanian countryside and, more specifically, to creating the conditions needed to turn this Draft Law into an active process. To this end, all PR branches in the districts are asked to distribute the brochure and ensure that it is discussed among all broad sections of the population, so that they may feel ownership of and support this Draft Law in Parliament. It will bring them the freedom to produce and earn on their own land, and will awaken their energies and creative spirit. Set against one another: the first, signed by Ramiz Alia and approved by today’s Parliament and Government (who pretend to recognize reality and insist on implementing it, while in practice denying property); and the second, the PR’s (committed to the memory of generations, leaving no opening for the implementation of Law 7501). master of their own property, a right sanctioned by customary law. The land in the village, or the plot and house in the city, were cleared and built through hard work and often the extreme sacrifices of several generations. They were bought with money earned through hard labor abroad and hired work, and therefore cannot be privatized arbitrarily. Land is a sacred book for the family lineage, and the reform proposed by the Republican Draft Law creates the possibility of beginning to “read” this book. Returning property to its lawful owner will bring qualitative changes. Psychologically, the farmer will feel [continued on page 2]

“I am a citizen of the whole world,” said the madwoman in the krey-tet, during the absence of Friday, in front of Hotel Da-jti, in the middle of a crowd of Albanian and foreign quasi-citizens. “I’ve shat on the Serbs, the Greeks, and the Chinese, too. Now I am a citizen of the whole world, and I don’t give a damn about this world. After all, what obliges me to be Albanian, when even my ancestors were never that for a single day? The monumental works of my father were indeed installed in the squares and on the pedestals of Albania, but they had nothing to do with Albania and the Albanians. Besides, what have they got to do with us?! If you have nothing to do with Albania, how can we, the modern parties and electorates of Albania, have anything to do with it?! We’ve shat on everything, both the PD party and the other one. We are free citizens of this world, which lacks freedoms. We’ve shat on Kristin Fon Kahl, too. We have nothing to do with her either. That’s how we’ll always be. We stand for a different morality in Albania, and not merely a political morality. In fact, we are against all morality today, including written morality, because these moral codes were created by intellectual, patriotic, democratic and dissident people in various countries. We are against all of them, and against parties, and against every free citizen... parties, and against every free citizen citizen citizen citizen citizen citizen of this world. THE CHRONICLER