Frozen funds of “Xhaferi” and “Populli” — microscopic compared with the deposits collected from clients Today the generals testify in court: Xhaferi faces Sulstafa at 11 o’clock, Driza faces Gazidede

. The powerful have withdrawn their deposits and interest. Usury schemes seem to have entered the annals of violence and handcuffs. Almost everyone involved in the pyramid scheme has been arrested. The few who have remained outside the bars have been summoned to the police station. The Government and Parliament have moved quickly to restore order to this situation of mass robbery. All the buildings belonging to the usury firms have been surrounded. A new anti-usury law has been passed, and investigations have begun at the Prosecutor’s Office. It looks as though things are returning to normal, not counting the fatherless protests by the left. Yesterday, in fact, unconfirmed reports circulated that many police officers had managed to seize by force the money they had invested in pyramid schemes. It is reported that many influential people (generally their wives) managed to withdraw their savings from the cash offices of these firms. This still-unverified rumor seriously implicates the people who have now taken the usury issue into their hands. In other words, the government institutions that have stated that money will be distributed fairly from now on. But it is said that the police, the people of the law, have not cared about this kind of fairness—not even the wives of those who make the law. Albanians are more or less facing the same predicament at this time. The winners are nowhere to be found in this story, no matter how TV presents it. Under no circumstances should those who hold the baton be rewarded. This means that, after this financial chaos, the law of the jungle has been put in place. You have to rely on your shoulders and fists to get your savings or the money from a house you have sold. Savings need trust at this moment; citizens need trust at this moment, precisely in those who can safeguard their money. It is understood that a uniform gives you a few more opportunities, but it does not make you one of the law-abiding individuals. During the citizens’ protests, many police officers did not want to shoot at them, simply because they were facing the same predicament. Could it be that now they are freer to act? At the end of the day, if there was money was money to do it, shouldn’t we all get a little of the spoon? The spoon has no uniform.

In Berat, 1.2 billion lekë; in Librazhd, 820 million; in Shkodër, 450 million. Read on page 4

The Parliament’s Shehi The DP MP Dashamir Shehi called Ali Spahia yesterday a “specialist in the oil business.” The phrase, perhaps also intended humorously, was said yesterday during the plenary session while Parliament was approving a decree on value-added tax. Spahia, speaking on behalf of the DP group, invited his fellow MPs to approve the bill as it stood, but Shehi then intervened. “Spahia knows the oil business better, so there’s no point in my speaking, but I think we should exempt kerosene from this tax this year,” Shehi said, more or less. His remark provoked laughter and various reactions in the chamber.

Photo: A.Babani

Sudja cheated 3,000 people and took 16 million USD Opposition leaders will not speak without a lawyer. Page 2 Skënderbeu replaced by Selman Stërmasi DP MP Daka: Meksi and Çela must resign Page 3 Silva: I will no longer collect money at interest Page 7