TESTIMONY OF ALI ÇENA / Before he died, the prime minister telephoned Enver Hoxha The truth about Mehmet Shehu is hidden in 30 pages TESTIMONY OF ALI ÇENA / Before he died, the prime minister telephoned Enver Hoxha “They asked me to accuse Kadri Hazbiu” The truth about Mehmet Shehu is hidden in 30 pages CARLO BOLLINO TIRANA — The mystery surrounding Mehmet Shehu’s death is buried in three volumes of pages. He wrote them a few hours before he died; they were on the bedside table in the bedroom when his account was discovered. They are pages that burn: “I am alive only because I did not get the chance to read them.” Ali Çena reveals his final secret, kept for 12 years, about the prime minister’s death. For 9 years he was head of the personal escort of 35 and remained by his side until the night of 17 December 1981, when a rotten bullet to the heart killed him. The official version until now was suicide, but Ali Çena contradicts it: “No,” he tells the newspaper, “Mehmet Shehu was murdered.” Now the mystery of the 30 handwritten pages arises: a will or an indictment? “The truth about the Shehu affair is in this document,” Çena replies, “which is why nobody has found it until now.” Why do you attach so much importance to this letter? “Because I know what happened that night. After the meeting of the Political Bureau, during which Mehmet Shehu was harshly criticized by the Party, I escorted him home. He did not go to bed; from his office he telephoned Enver Hoxha. He was shaken by the accusations and asked whether he could meet him for a personal explanation. Hoxha refused, excusing himself by saying he had people over for dinner and was very busy. He suggested that he write down what he had to say and that the next day he would read it during the Bureau meeting. That is why the letter is so important...” But until now it has always been said that in that letter Shehu explained only the reasons for his suicide... “That is the official version, but I asked you: why, then, was it never published? No, something else was written in that letter.” You saw it on the bedside table next to Mehmet Shehu’s bed: why didn’t you sit down and read it? “Because his son, Vladimir, took it immediately and wanted to keep it himself. That is what saved my life: almost everyone who touched that document died.” Who, for example? “The letter was taken by Vladimir Shehu and he died a few months later from electrocution. Another mysterious death. Immediately after the body was found, I telephoned Ramiz Alia. I told him what had happened and that we had found the letter beside the bed. I learned later from his driver that Alia went straight to Enver Hoxha’s house, and from there they telephoned Kadri Hazbiu and ordered him to come immediately to the villa to collect the letter. He did so quickly. Vladimir entrusted him with the document, which ended up a few minutes later in the hands of Alia, Hoxha, and his wife Nexhmije. Then Kadri Hazbiu too was killed, while the letter, I am convinced, is still kept by Ramiz Alia today.” But didn’t Kadri Hazbiu die over another matter? “No, he died for this very reason. Before I was arrested, I was questioned several times by Hekurani Isai. He wanted me to accuse Kadri Hazbiu of having entered Mehmet Shehu’s villa that night, before he was killed. They wanted to trap him, but I refused, and that is why I ended up in prison. They tortured me for 11 months, beating me. The investigator, Sokol Koleka, tortured me personally: ‘You have to say that Kadri Hazbiu came to the villa that night,’ he kept repeating, and my silence was met with unheard-of brutality. I still suffer the physical consequences of the torture inflicted on me. Then Kadri Hazbiu was arrested and accused of having taken part in the same counterrevolutionary plot for which I and many others were convicted and which, according to them, was led by Mehmet Shehu. Today I would have no difficulty repeating the opposite: those accusations were completely false.” You said that on the night Mehmet Shehu died, the villa was under the control of you and your men: none of you heard the pistol shot and nobody saw anyone enter or leave... “The shot certainly was not heard, whereas the bang was heard very clearly the next day, when a test was carried out by firing in the same office. In my opinion, this shows that Shehu was killed with a pistol fitted with a silencer. Our group controlled only the people at the front of the villa. The rear section belonged to Enver Hoxha’s property. On this subject I have to tell you a very strange story.” Former Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu Former Minister Kadri Hazbiu Koleka tortured me personally: “You must say that Kadri Hazbiu came to Enver Hoxha’s house that night, that come to the villa,” he kept repeating to me, suffer from this today. (34,213) cars and 862 buses... Finding a new one among them is an extremely rare thing. The Environment Committee is asking the Ministry of Economy to take a series of measures, but has still not made a final decision: used tires above a certain limit should be considered waste; differentiated taxes should be imposed according to the degree of wear of imported vehicles; and higher customs duties should be imposed on vehicles that run on diesel, which pollute more. One of the inspectors of the Environmental Protection Committee, Andrea Mato, currently also secretary of the Green Party, tells “Gazeta” of the great concern caused by the discovery of this phenomenon. “The number of used tires imported into Albania is increasing more and more,” Mato explained, “although they are not intended for sale. The clearest evidence of this is that, as soon as they enter the country, they are abandoned by individual traders in various places near roads. We confirmed one such case near the Kakavija border crossing, where a truck dumped its entire load of used tires onto the road, as witnesses also attest.” Another such case occurred near the city of Korçë. At the same Committee, they provide further details about another flagrant case: the immediate importation of expired medicines by foreign humanitarian organizations. “There are large quantities of them in depots in Berat, Lushnjë, Petrelë, Durrës, and in the medicine depot in Tirana. Almost all foreign humanitarian organizations have brought such medicines; some of them are very well known, such as “Caritas,” “God Loves Albania,” and the “Polish Red Cross,” the committee’s officials stressed. “We have requested that urgent measures also be taken to address this problem. It is important that foreign organizations bringing medicines as aid obtain the appropriate license from the Ministry of Health. Unless these activities are brought under control, this problem cannot be solved.”

The Environment Committee intervenes Stricter controls on imports The Environment Committee intervenes Waste trafficking from neighboring countries to Albania Stricter controls on imports TIRANA — A disturbing warning from the Committee for the Preservation and Protection of the Environment once again raises the increasingly worrying problem of pollution. The committee has sent a letter to the Ministry of Economy and Finance expressing concern and calling for action to curb a phenomenon that is growing in scale: the importation of waste from neighboring countries. The letter discusses in detail the entry of used tires solely to be ...

CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEFT WITHOUT A HEADQUARTERS — NORDE — In an appeal addressed to Albanian public opinion, the Christian Democratic Party announces—following the forcible occupation of its former offices by a citizen—that the party is now left without its own headquarters. The appeal bears the signature of Mayor Sali Kelmendi, who had previously issued a decision granting the party two offices, but then, in another decision also signed by him, granted these offices to a citizen. The leadership of the Albanian Christian Democratic Party, founded in December 1991 and with 36 elected representatives in local government, among other things calls on the Government and Prime Minister Mesi to intervene as soon as possible to provide the party with offices. INTEREST FROM OTHER COUNTRIES IN HELPING ALBANIA — Japan, Canada, as well as the EFTA countries, the European Free Trade Association, which includes countries such as Switzerland, Austria and the Nordic countries, have expressed interest in helping Albania. These countries will join donors such as Italy—which naturally ranks first—Germany, Greece, the USA and Turkey. The Albanian Ministry of Economy and Finance has recently noted that the trend is toward development aid, alongside the necessary food aid. PSD PARLIAMENTARY GROUP DECIDES TO BOYCOTT PARLIAMENT — Following the explanations given by Prime Minister Meksi, who was tasked with drafting the Union’s draft budget, and regarding the work carried out and the contents of the draft submitted to Parliament, Skënder Gjinushi, chairman of the PSD, announced a boycott of Parliament. “We will maintain this position,” Gjinushi said, calling on the other groups to support this stance as well.

Journalists’ Association: “Arrest the culprits” EDMOND LAÇI TIRANA — Fatmir Elezi, a journalist with the Albanian Telegraphic Agency, who was attacked by an unknown assailant, is in a coma at Tirana’s Clinical Hospital No. 2. A similar appeal was made by the leadership of the Albanian Journalists’ Association, which is forcefully demanding that the criminal who struck the journalist be found and punished. To date, there has been no official response from the police authorities. Fatmir Elezi, director of foreign news at ATSH, is still—in the opinion of the doctors on duty—in a critical condition. “On the way home, as he was returning after just finishing work,” one of his colleagues recounts, “someone collided with Fatmir’s bicycle. After that, this same person hit him hard with a fist, knocking him onto the pavement.” The strong protest by the Journalists’ Association states: “The ATSH journalist was criminally assaulted by a hooligan as he was leaving work, accompanied by a colleague.” The Police version is still missing, although following the incident it is now the most important one. It is also unknown whether the ATSH journalist colleagues have filed a complaint, since four days later, when the statement was made, they were still calling for the criminal to be identified. On a stretch of road as busy as Elbasan Street, there must surely be many other eyewitnesses. They are in a position, just like the other colleague who was beside him at the time, to identify the person responsible. In any case, the incident is extremely serious, as is the health of our colleague Elezi. Although the incident is still not very clear, it cannot be linked to the obvious hypothesis that Fatmir Elezi was a victim of his journalistic work. His work in the foreign affairs section is far removed from attacks by people who might have motives for revenge because of his articles. Only the arrest of the perpetrator will definitively establish the motives for the serious assault. Whatever the motives, they cannot alter the fact that an Albanian journalist was brutally assaulted. The case of journalist Elezi is distressing news for all his colleagues. But it is also a warning.

The police are looking for the two unidentified killers TIRANA — (Ed. La.) — This time the killers fired with shotguns. In the middle of a populated neighborhood like Kombinat, 6 kilometers from the center of Tirana, and in broad daylight. The victim, Agim Myftiu Shaqiri, 28, a resident of Kombinat, died of his wound as soon as he arrived at the hospital, while the perpetrators have still not been apprehended. “According to the accounts of eyewitnesses present at the crime scene,” explains an investigations specialist from Tirana Police District 3, “the police were fired upon with shotguns.” The incident took place at 9:30 in the morning; the perpetrators have not yet been identified. “The police have carried out their operational actions,” the specialist continues, “and are moving toward identifying the real perpetrators.” For now, officially—perhaps because the investigation is ongoing—the investigators have said only that the perpetrators fled in an unknown direction. According to sources from this Police District, the murder is confirmed to have resulted from an argument, in other words, over trivial motives. Taken immediately to hospital, the victim Shaqiri died with no chance of being brought back to life. “He arrived without a pulse and with no hope of survival,” says the doctor on duty at Tirana Civil Hospital. “He had been severely struck in the middle of the body.” Following the murder that took place in the Lapraka neighborhood a few weeks ago, this latest incident is another in a series of victims of arguments and armed clashes. This type of crime, still prevalent in Albanian society in transition, is also made possible by the possession of various firearms without permits. The 14 such weapons that police authorities managed to seize from various people in just the first five months of 1993 certainly represent 14 fewer crimes.

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Everyone dreams when they sleep. This is an extremely normal fact; only sometimes dreams are so beautiful or so bad that they leave you astonished and amazed when you wake up. But dreams can also be “warnings,” that is, they may contain a premonition, a warning about what might happen in the future. Every week “Gazeta Shqiptare” offers its readers explanations and meanings of the objects and situations most often dreamed about. SWIMMING Psychological interpretation: This action symbolizes two extreme events: birth or death. The way in which we carry out this action reflects our tendency toward life: fear of swimming far away demonstrates insecurity; swimming underwater indicates a desire not to see things only on the surface. Predictions: Swimming in clear waters: days without difficulties. In murky waters: difficulties. Swimming underwater: worries. CLOUDS Psychological interpretation: This image expresses a desire to escape, a somewhat unclear moment full of illusions. If the clouds bring rain, they indicate anxiety. According to Freudian theory, this dream is a sign of diminished sexual desire. CRYING Psychological interpretation: Crying in a dream is a good sign, indicating a situation that has been resolved. But the same cannot be said of dreams in which we see others crying for us: this means that we are dissatisfied with a danger and understand that our relatives are unable to help us, while also feeling despair about our situation. Predictions: In reality, there will be no tears when the dreamer wakes, but good luck. LAUGHING Psychological interpretation: On a psychological level, laughter in a dream is not something positive, and expresses an anxiety from which we want to free ourselves. But if the object of our laughter is... [text cut off] THE KISS Psychological interpretation: A kiss expresses love but also a feeling of warmth. Therefore, the sensations in dreams associated with this gesture should be considered. A cold kiss, for example, indicates that we are afraid of the person we love. Kissing children expresses a feeling of joy. If we do not recognize the person kissing us, we fear betrayal. Predictions: Kissing children: happiness. Kissing the hands of married people: security. Kissing the dead: unexpected events. Predictions: White clouds: peaceful days. Black clouds: misfortune. Passing clouds: unexpected events. Laughter: Laughing in a dream because of a leek signals dissatisfaction. But if we are the ones laughing, then we should expect the opposite sign.