The left-wing parties oppose the formation of the commission At the meeting of the left-wing parties, which was held yesterday, the parties that took part reached a joint decision. They rejected the way the permanent electoral commission proposed by President Berisha was to be formed. They cited as the reason the fact that the commission could not be established by presidential decree, since the president was also the chairman of the Democratic Party. They even accused the head of state of being responsible for the violence used at the illegal rally on May 28. This time, the Socialists joined the other parties led by the two parties of the Q Pole; at first, they had given signs that they agreed with the president’s idea. It now appears that these parties have fully joined the boycott strategy they began immediately, before the elections had even ended. The parties that have created the “Front of Refusal” are asking the president to let the parties make the proposal for forming the commission, with the president left only to approve or decree it. Not only that, they are also threatening not to participate in the local elections if the president does not meet the conditions they have set regarding the formation of this commission. As can be seen, by boycotting the local election procedures they are seeking to strengthen their positions by creating a political crisis in the country. Moreover, the Socialists have joined this fray to gain credibility with their electorate ahead of their congress, which will be held toward the end of this month.

34 years in prison and one released in the courtroom Yesterday, the Court of Appeal once again ruled “against” the Tirana Court. Yesterday, too, during the trial of the former first secretaries of the districts, defendant Sulejman Bushati was released in the courtroom. There was no change in the sentences for the former first secretaries of Tirana and Durrës. Piro Kondi and Qirjako Mihali were each sentenced again to 17 years in prison. In principle, the Court of Appeal rejected the defendants’ claims; after the Tirana Court’s ruling on June 17, 1996, they had protested vehemently. A week ago, when the head of the Court of Appeal, Prelë Martini, almost overturned the Tirana Court’s decision sentencing five leaders of the former defendants Kondi, Bushati and Mihali, but the sentence was changed. It confirmed that all three defendants had asked to be acquitted and opposed the ruling handed down by Judge Gjin Gjoni in the trial court. “But, according to the prosecutor, the three defendants cannot be acquitted because they interned patriotic families for political purposes, considering them opponents of the state party. The prosecution said that S. Bushati approved more than eight proposals to intern families in 1980–1990 in Lushnjë, Tirana and Shkodër; the other two defendants did the same. They are guilty because they carried out acts Court of Appeal, Prele of the former Commission for Expulsions and Internments, the reaction at the Tirana court was very strong. But the effects were very insignificant. The scene of Martini’s ruling was repeated yesterday. The two heads of the Commission for Expulsions and Internments, Manush Myftiu and Haxhi Lleshi, who were released in the courtroom, were joined by defendant Sulejman Bushati. These three former senior officials must behave themselves for five years so that no one remembers that they committed crimes against humanity. Yesterday, prosecutor Thëllënxa Alikaj, in her closing argument, asked the court to uphold the legal classification made by the Tirana Court regarding the defendant’s guilt, and requested: proposals for the internment of carried out concrete acts contrary to the law and were instigators and approvers of the internments. All three defendants had every opportunity to prevent the internments and expulsions. Thus, defendant S. Bushati prevented many internments, a fact that weighs against him. Together with the 35 other people convicted and arrested for crimes against humanity, the defendants created a tragedy that befell our people. In conclusion, she asked that the Tirana Court’s ruling be upheld for two defendants and that Sulejman Bushati be released in the courtroom. A decision that was delayed for three hours.

Six years ago, on August 7, 1990, Rilindja, the only daily newspaper for Albanians in Kosovo and the former Yugoslavia, was banned after 45 years of activity that began in Prizren and later continued in Prishtina. The ban was imposed under the extraordinary circumstances of the Serbian military and police occupation and state of siege, and followed the unconstitutional decision of the Serbian Assembly on July 5, 1990, to abolish the Assembly and Government of Kosovo. It was also followed by other restrictive measures against Albanian-language media in Kosovo. That same day, the Albanian-language program on Prishtina Radio and Television was forcibly taken off the air, and 1,300 Albanian journalists and employees were thrown out of work. The Serbian Assembly’s decision to ban Rilindja was enforced by the Serbian police, who occupied the press building, forcibly drove out the Albanian journalists, writers and other employees, and stopped the newspaper from being printed at the printing house. Regional radio stations in Prizren, Gjakovë, Pejë, Mitrovicë, Gjilan and Ferizaj were also forcibly shut down, leaving Kosovo in complete darkness in terms of information. This terror against the press continued with the pursuit, persecution, imprisonment and sentencing of journalists, as well as the expropriation and plundering of Rilindja’s property by the Serbian phantom company Panorama, which Belgrade established in Prishtina, despite the resistance and the 11-day hunger strike organized by Albanian journalists and writers in defense of the Albanian-language word. Even under the harsh conditions of occupation, Albanian-language information in Kosovo, and Rilindja in particular, survived. Albanian magazines carrying daily news began to appear. On January 18, 1981, the Albanian-language daily newspaper Bujku began publication in Prishtina; in fact, it is Rilindja. Rilindja is also published in Switzerland and, since April 18, 1993, in Tirana. Unstoppable in its work and on the path of Rilindja in a free Kosovo.

Another young man has returned dead. The tragic incident occurred yesterday at midday, when 27-year-old A.K., the father of a five-month-old girl, arrived in our country from Greece after crossing the border. He had left six months earlier and had not contacted his family even once; he was working on Crete in Greece, thinking he would return to his family with his pockets full. The day of his misfortune was precisely the day he was to return to his family, but by then he was already dead. The courage he summoned to cross the border alone from Crete to Kapshticë cost him his life. The causes of his death remain a mystery, while this brings the number of deaths on the Greek-Macedonian border to 11 within this year.

Newspaper “REPUBLIKA,” “Sami Frashëri” Street, near “Petro Nini Luarasi” High School, Tirana, Account No. BTK 986/110 Tel/Fax 259 88