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By Maksim Begeja Pure demagoguery. This is the only way to describe yesterday’s decision by the Constitutional Court to abolish the death penalty. Removing the death penalty from our legislation on the grounds that it conflicts with the Constitution is nothing other than a political act intended to swallow up the interests of the current powers in the eyes of international opinion, while completely ignoring Albanian citizens’ demand for social peace. This act once again proves that various clans, who came to power with the support of street crime, seek to spare criminals’ lives while sacrificing the lives of citizens. The demagoguery that abolishing the death penalty opens Albania’s path to Europe is as false as it is degrading. It is false because Article 2 of the Charter of Human Rights permits the death penalty when it is imposed by courts through a reasoned decision. Thus, this article entitles every state to keep the death-penalty law in force when it considers this appropriate. It is degrading because it leaves citizens unprotected in the face of criminals, who can kill anyone while being certain that their own lives will not be threatened. This decision is an open violation of the Constitution, since, at the initiative of the Republican Party, 50 thousand signatures were collected calling for the Albanian people’s opinion to be expressed, through a referendum, on whether or not to abolish the death penalty—a demand that was not taken into account. This once again clearly shows how important Albanian public opinion is to those currently in power. Only this country’s government officials reserve the right to decide what they want to do to preserve their own peace, lives and future. The very minimum standard in this case would have been for this Court to demonstrate its independence from politics and leave the decision to abolish or retain the death penalty to the will of the people through a nationwide plebiscite. Actions of this kind show that in Albania the party in power and the clans within it make the law, placing their ideological and economic interests above the interests of the nation, through unscrupulous efforts to prolong their hold on power. The Constitutional Court ignores the fact that, despite the death penalty not being enforced, it is still present in Albania’s cities and villages. It is being carried out through the primitive institutions of vigilante justice, revenge and blood feuds, thereby bringing even greater chaos to the difficult lives of Albanians. The PR has stated that the death-penalty law should be applied in Albania for a period of two or three years, for as long as organized and street crime continue to grow in the country and for as long as state institutions remain unconsolidated. The Republican Party will not stop its efforts to put the issue to a general referendum, where the people, through their voice and their vote, will determine whether or not the death penalty should be abolished in Albania.

P. 11 Albania refuses entry to Bulgarian ship P. 7 Democrats shower praise on one another P. 6 Turkey a candidate for the EU P. 10

Today in the supplement: Indonesian poetry, poetry by Faslli Haliti, prose by D’Annunzio, a paper by prof. dr. Adriatik Kallulli, humor by Medi Belortaja, etc.