The keys to victory are in Albania Now that the election campaign has begun, a somewhat strange paradox is unfolding. Instead of the leaders of the main parties dealing with the electorate’s concerns and unresolved problems—which are numerous—they are seeking electoral capital from afar, outside the country’s borders, or from foreigners who come to Albania on visits, even unofficial ones. A telling example in this regard was the two congresses of these parties, held a short while ago. The party propaganda, both Socialist and Democratic, gave considerable space to the speeches of foreign guests who addressed these congresses. Given this mindset, a statement by a foreign public figure is very important—[text truncated]—that is, important problems without whose resolution progress at a normal pace cannot be ensured. While the DP needs the assessments made by foreign public figures to somehow cover up its failures, its failure to resolve ... some vital problems such as electricity, water, organized emigration, etc., the positive assessments from abroad are needed by the SP in order to obtain a kind of “license” from foreigners with regard to consideration— Continued on p. 2

[Caricature illustration; signature: B. ...?]

Another Albanian victim of Greek police bullets. Yesterday, near the Greek island of Corfu, a male Albanian citizen who was driving a speedboat was killed by bullets fired by Greek police. The incident occurred after the motorboat refused to be inspected by the Greek border police, who then opened fire. His killing comes just a few months after two other Albanians were killed by Corfu police, at approximately the same place. As always, the news is first reported by foreign agencies, and there are neither reactions nor protest notes from the Albanian side. A statement from the Greek Ministry of the Interior says that the man who was driving the motorboat, and the others with him, were going to Corfu to commit a robbery. However, one of the passengers said they were armed with a “Kalashnikov” automatic rifle. He was named Bashkim Ziza and was 28 years old. The same Greek vessel had recently arrested another Albanian, named Artur Turako, also 28 years old. A similar incident occurred a few days ago in the Aegean, where the Greeks fired on a Turkish vessel that was in Turkish territorial waters. As a result of [unclear text: “të shtetarit të bërë publike”], bullets fired by Greek police have killed 42 Albanian citizens in six years, 31 of whom are officially acknowledged by the Greek authorities. Although many killings were carried out without convincing motives, no Greek police officer has been found guilty, even though trials were held in two cases. The killing of the 28-year-old from Saranda, B. Z., shows that nothing has changed. The Greek Ministry of the Interior reports that the man who was killed, of the passengers said that they were undocumented migrants and were being taken toward Corfu by the man who was killed, in exchange for 20,000 drachmas each. From there they were to go to other parts of Greece to find work. The man who was killed, who was driving the motorboat and who was found with a ca-

25 arrested in Shtimje alone In an operation that began in the early hours of the morning, Serbian police arrested 25 Albanians in Shtimje today and took 12 others, with their hands and feet bound, to the police station, LDK sources in Shtimje report. The arrested people have been taken into the police station and are being severely mistreated, while 15 other Albanians, including women, have been tied behind the railings. They are up to 40 years old. Their names are not yet known. The pretext for the arrests and violence is the killing the night before last of a Serbian policeman by unidentified persons. In the morning, the owner and a female employee of the “Mimoza” shop, located near the place where the Serbian policeman was killed, were arrested again. At midday, 25 Serbian policemen raided the home and arrested Ahmet Aliu, chairman of the LDK branch in Shtimje. The police have blocked all the roads leading from Shtimje into the town, and residents entering or leaving the town are stopped and beaten. At intervals of two to three hours, the police cordon off parts of the town and raid families’ homes. ...as much as 60 meters ... check ... where ... ... both but... ... execute ... ... perositet ... ... interesting ... ... the army, the chief ... ... of the decision ... ...llast Nad... ... FIPA and ... ... may ... ... Rexhepi

p. 2

p. 3

The Republican Party considers it essential to cleanse Albanian political life of figures implicated in the communist past. Accordingly, we support in principle Law No. 8043, dated 30.11.1995, but do not approve of its subjective implementation. The conclusion concerning political figures, based on anonymous documents from the former State Security service, is not convincing. On the basis of this reasoning, the Steering Committee of the PR Branch in Durrës declares that it considers the exclusion of Mr. Raimond Todhenga’s candidacy in the elections of May 26, 1996, unjust. We consider the rejection of Mr. Todhe’s candidacy absurd. A name in a register, a bare name unsupported by any document, could have been written by someone acting in bad faith who had access to these registers. It is not difficult for the competent bodies to establish the truth about whether someone was a collaborator, since, as is known, a number of documents must exist. There is no such evidence or document on file for Mr. Todhe, only an anonymous note in a register—a note that cannot be taken as a basis today, in a state governed by the rule of law and in a democratic arena, for tarnishing figures who have contributed to the establishment of democracy. We express our conviction that the bodies charged with handling this matter will establish the truth and guarantee the soundness of Mr. R. Todhe’s political record. Steering Committee PR Branch, Durrës