A valuable episcopal throne has been illegally exported to Italy Dashnor Kokonozi, Director at the Ministry of Culture, says: “There are very serious responsibilities that must be uncovered” A valuable episcopal throne has been illegally exported to Italy Artworks are still being trafficked; first complaints are now ready Dashnor Kokonozi, Director at the Ministry of Culture, says: “There are very serious responsibilities that must be uncovered” CARLO BOLLINO TIRANA — “The trafficking of artworks from Albania still exists. And now the time has come to file the first complaints. Those responsible must be prosecuted.” He has worked for 18 months with a single aim: to bring back to the homeland two Albanian iconostases illegally exported by an Italian. A drop in the ocean of illegal activity, but for Dashnor Kokonozi, Director at the Ministry of Culture, it was a matter of principle. Now, also thanks to the cooperation of a police officer from Palermo, the two works have been located in Italy and seized. “Now I am ready to turn to the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office,” Kokonozi continues. “I will file a formal complaint and hand investigators some very interesting documents showing all the irregularities committed in Albania. In this way, the two icons detained in Italy can be returned to Tirana, and those responsible will be prosecuted.” But Kokonozi’s fight is not limited to the two icons: “I am sure that another important Albanian work is hidden in Palermo. It is an eighteenth-century episcopal throne, worth at least 400,000 dollars. It was in the Church of San Pieronës in the village of Vithkuq, near Korçë. In February 1992, some Albanian specialists dismantled it and gave its pieces to villagers, who were supposed to take it to Korçë for restoration. Instead, this throne was illegally exported to Palermo.” You say that artworks are still being trafficked today. Do you have evidence? “This is a highly profitable activity, and even other countries more developed than ours have failed to stop it. Clearly, it still exists in Albania. The trafficking of icons, for example: more than 200 have been stolen from museums. Now that museums are more closely monitored, trafficking has shifted to icons from private collections: at least 250 have been secretly exported. Prices have risen fantastically, and people sell them to foreigners just to make money. Almost always, these are artworks that managed to escape the looting carried out during the communist regime: now they are taken out of the places where they had been hidden and sold. We even have cases of people publishing advertisements in newspapers offering artworks for sale. We are investigating these cases too.” How extensive is this kind of trade? “It is enormous. The trade is so profitable that four private laboratories have sprung up in Tirana to forge icons: they are often sold to foreigners at very high prices, up to 2,000 dollars each.” Even outside the hotels, th-

The Bay of Panormos, about two kilometres from Qeparo, and the «La lumaca» agency, which is about to undertake the water-supply project

TIRANA — (Fa.Ba.) In Qeparo, the picturesque seaside village of Himarë on the Ionian Sea, work will begin in a few days on the construction of a water supply system that will provide water to the homes of 5 villagers. Thus a new initiative is taking shape for this season, primarily aimed at developing agritourism, which seeks to preserve local traditions and the rural environment. This time, the protagonists are neither state institutions nor private companies. The idea, which has already begun to take concrete form, belongs to a group of Italian volunteers who have taken on the construction of the water supply system using funds collected from their members. To give legal status to the whole project, an association has been established and officially recognized by the local authorities of the Emilia-Romagna Region and by the cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The cooperation of AGAC (Reggio Emilia Gas and Water Company) has been very valuable to the progress of the project. Italian workers with specialist skills, recently retired, are also expected to join the team of volunteers. The initiative has received support from a large number of companies in Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna, which will provide the technical equipment needed to build the Qeparo water supply system. The work site will be set up with the cooperation of Caritas and the “Arci-Solidarieta” organization. Work will be carried out in three shifts until the end of August. The first two shifts have already been filled by Italian technicians and volunteers and Albanian workers. It will be more like a tourist camp than a real construction site. Each shift will include three or four days devoted to tourist visits, and work will be done during the cooler hours of the day.

TIRANA — The seizure of documents from the former archive of Rinas Airport remains unclear. The incident took place on Sunday, as two directors of the State Archives were about to leave the country. Because of the discussions that arose, the plane they were due to take delayed its departure by nearly an hour. After that, the two had to leave a day later and are now in Germany. At the airport, no one can provide any further details. According to one of the customs officers, “the seizure was organized by the highest control authorities,” without offering him any further explanation. The Central State Archive also knows very little about what happened at Rinas. According to official sources, documents concerning the relations between the PPSH and the French Communist Party, from the 1950s through the 1970s, were seized from the two archivists at the airport. Tirana, headquarters of the National Archive

TIRANA — By decision of the People’s Assembly, Vasil Plaku was dismissed from his position as Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic. The dismissal came after his immunity had previously been lifted, allowing the Investigative Directorate to investigate the case of the brisërimeve. These investigations had been blocked, since as the senior prosecutor Plaku could immediately have obstructed the criminal case against him if it went to trial. The decision by Vasil Plaku to release from prison the three people linked to methyl alkali was revoked just a few hours later by the Prosecutor of the Republic, Dragoti.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION BY FORMER BRITISH OFFICERS ON THE YEARS 1943–1944 — Photographs taken by British officers Maklin and Smail during 1943–1944 have been exhibited at the International Center of Culture in Tirana. They are original photographs from the period, which also serve to uncover many truths long concealed by the communist regime. For the first time—through this exhibition—it is possible to see and form a more accurate judgment of figures such as Sefjulla Malëshova, Gjin Marku, Dali Ndreu, and even Miladin Popoviç. ARRIVAL OF LARGER AID SHIPMENTS CONTINUES IN DURRËS — The ship “Gotia,” carrying 11,500 tons of wheat as aid from the European Community, entered the port of Durrës and was immediately unloaded. The arrival of this ship came just after the unloading of the previous European Community wheat ship, “Fortune Bell,” which had brought 8,400 tons. SHKODËR DISTRICT COMPLETES THE WHEAT HARVEST — Within 25 days, the wheat harvest was completed across the entire area of 4,185 hectares in Shkodër district. The district’s Directorate of Agriculture reports that more than 12,000 tons of wheat were harvested, exactly as had been forecast. Twenty-eight combine harvesters—all privatized—were deployed and managed to complete the campaign within the normal time limits. The remaining problem is now the collection of the harvested crop by the Collection Enterprise, since only 32 tons have been collected so far. Inside The mystery of the seized documents Vasil Plaku dismissed Yesterday in Albania PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION OF FORMER BRITISH OFFICERS FOR THE YEARS 1943–1944 — Photograph- At the Financial Police in Tirana

TIRANA — Arben Basha, deputy head of the Financial Police at the Tirana Branch, confirms to the newspaper that, despite the recent changes made at this institution, he continues to work in the same senior post as before. The article “Customs Scandal Erupts” stated, among other things, that “the head and deputy head of the Tirana Financial Police have been dismissed,” when in fact only the head of the Financial Police at the Tirana Branch was dismissed.

An unbelievable episode in a village in the southern highlands (Pa.Ba.) He is a 27-year-old man from Opar, the protagonist of an almost unbelievable adventure. Some time ago, he took part in a fight for life or death, a clash between man and nature, just as in times beyond memory. As he was returning to his village, he was suddenly attacked by a family of bears and the largest bear among them. Two other bears were killed by his fellow villagers, who rushed to his aid, while he was leaving [unclear in source: “po e linin shikonte mua me urrejtje dhe herë me keqardhje”] the cub lying dead on the ground.” So far, the story is interesting. News like this does not come down from the mountains every day. But even more interesting is the way the seven-year-old tells his story. “I had to defend myself,” he says. “A cub suddenly attacked me very fiercely. I killed it with an axe, with one blow beside the ear.” Then he tells how he was attacked by the mother bear and the two other cubs: “Sometimes they helped me, and sometimes my strength failed me.” It is a tale that seems to have nothing to do with animals, but rather simply with human beings fighting a life-or-death struggle against one another against a prehistoric backdrop. A kind of sadness can still be seen on the young villager’s face whenever he is asked to tell this story. He is embarrassed to give his name, but feels some satisfaction when he hears people call him “hero of the mountains.”

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