ARSIDI SCANDAL / Jailed on the basis of a document bearing his signature The former governor: “It’s a special operation” ARSIDI SCANDAL / Jailed on the basis of a document bearing his signature Ilir Hoti makes accusations before his arrest The former governor: “It’s a special operation” CARLO BOLLINO EDMOND LAÇI TIRANA — “There is an operation behind this whole story, a special operation,” the former Governor of the Albanian Bank says to the Gazette a few hours before his arrest over the Arsidi scandal. He says only a few words, enough to make a shameful and murky accusation. A few days have passed since his decision to resign as Governor, a move that triggered thousands of rumors. Several newspapers even published the (false) report that he had fled abroad. He denied it, speaking from his home in Durrës. A few enigmatic words, but enough to raise a cloud of mystery and suspicion: “But why? There’s a special operation orchestrating everything,” he says. What does he mean by operation? Hoti does not answer. He only says: “I resigned for personal reasons...” A few hours later, he himself, considered for many months one of the most powerful men in Albania’s financial apparatus, was arrested on the orders of the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office. The arrest had been announced for several days, but it was carried out just as attention to Hoti was waning. In recent days, he had even resumed visiting the Bank of Albania building. “Yes, it is true, former Governor Hoti has a new position at the Bank today, not in his previous capacity, but he does work here,” Dylber Vrioni, the new Governor of the Bank of Albania, had confirmed to the Gazette. But the day before yesterday, an unexpected turn of events took place. An ordinary car and a small police escort travelled alongside Ilir Hoti on a road in the capital. At 11:55, the large gate of Tirana Prison opened for the first time. Before Hoti, the following had in turn ended up in his cell: Agron Salihu, Agim Tartari, Ardian Xhyheri, Petrit Samsuri, Vilson Ahmeti and, last of all, Hoti himself. Just 60 minutes on the third floor of the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office had been enough for Arben Keleshi to present the charge, which Hoti received calmly: “Misappropriation of state property on a large scale and in collusion.” The Arsidi scandal, under investigation in Albania since 30 January of this year, seems only to have just begun. There is a document that may incriminate Hoti. It is a sheet of 12 lines, signed by Hoti on 1 November 1991: it concerns the mandate in favor of Nikola Arsidi, entrusting him with the task of negotiating Albania’s foreign debt of 400 million dollars. A task that would later bring Arsidi a profit of 1.6 million dollars. His signature is visible on the photocopy, but Hoti has always denied its authenticity. “Changes to dates and forged signatures have been made to implicate me too,” Hoti had explained to the Gazette after the accusations against him in Parliament. “They may have been prepared here or in France.” France is now coming to the fore. The Court of Appeal, which had sent the cases of Salihu, Tartari and Ahmeti back for investigation—after they had been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment by the Tirana Court—requested a few days ago that the investigation be conducted on the basis of original documents, not photocopies. The latest hypothesis is that the documents long awaited by Albanian investigators have come from France. “I have no current account of any kind in a Zurich bank, and the investigations in France produced no evidence,” the former Governor immediately retorted, denying the allegations of Alessin, the Italian parliamentarian who had been attacking him for some time. “I have evidence and documents to support my accusations,” Alessin firmly countered. TIMELINE OF THE SCANDAL TIRANA - (Ed.L.) — Here is the timeline of the “Arsidi Scandal”: —30 January 1993 — Agron Salihu and Agim Tartari, former executives of the Commercial Bank, are arrested and taken to Tirana Prison. They are accused of actions contrary to the proper performance of their duties. —18 February 1993 — Vilson Ahmeti, former Prime Minister of the Technical Government during the period December ’91–March ’92, is charged with a criminal offense and placed under house arrest. Charge: “Illegal appropriation while performing his duties”; —31 August 1993 — The Tirana Court sentences Salihu (7), Tartari (6) and Ahmeti (2) to 15 years’ imprisonment; —19 October 1993 — Ilir Hoti, Governor of the Bank of Albania, resigns; —20 October 1993 — Ardian Xhyheri, Director of the National Commercial Bank, is arrested and taken to Tirana Prison. Charge: “misappropriation of property on a large scale and in collusion”; —26 October 1993 — The Court of Appeal annuls the Tirana Court’s ruling on Salihu, Tartari and Ahmeti, sending the case back for further investigation; —29 October 1993 — Perikli Samsuri, a banker at the Bank of Albania, is arrested and taken to Tirana Prison for giving false testimony in the first trial of Salihu, Tartari and Ahmeti; —30 October 1993 — Vilson Ahmeti is transferred to Tirana Prison after eight months under house arrest; —4 November 1993 — Ilir Hoti, an employee of the Bank of Albania, is arrested. Charge: “misappropriation of state property on a large scale and in collusion.” Ilir Hoti now faces a serious charge. Under the law, the minimum sentence is more than 7 years’ imprisonment, while the maximum—if the draft bill introducing several amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure is also approved—would be life imprisonment. “The legal proceedings opened in France and Albania,” Hoti had told the Gazette when he was still only a witness in the case, “will soon reveal the truth.” But investigators believe that the truth may be that he himself should be arrested. [In the photo:] The mandate, the authorization document and the signature. In the photo: Ilir Hoti and the document that may now incriminate him. Is his signature authentic?

To improve the service ARMAND MERO TIRANA — A real revolution in the field of interurban public transport has begun. The first transport companies will soon be established. Starting in January 1994, individual permits to practice this profession will no longer exist. A system organized by the municipalities will grant exclusive rights to operate a route. From now on, however, to work in this sector one must also present a criminal-record certificate. Having a bus and a driving license will no longer be enough to obtain the right to work on an interurban route. The Council of Ministers’ decree—which did not come into force on 1 November because the system was not ready—stipulates that this right will be granted only to transport companies or associations. “Until now, this service has been organized on an individual basis,” Armand Baktuku, a specialist at the Ministry of Transport, tells the Gazette, “but it is transport without standards and outside any concept of public transport.” Under the new decree, there will be only two licenses for each route, one for each departure point. The license will be issued only after a tender announced by the municipalities has been won. But that is not the only new feature. The winning company will also receive exclusive rights over the route. It will be required to observe the scheduled departure times. In other words, the bus will no longer be able to depart only when it is full of passengers, but only according to a timetable. Ticket sellers will also be excluded from the process; companies will have to have a station and an agency where tickets are sold. This agency will also determine passenger flows based on the number of tickets, and passengers will stop only at their destination. “This arrangement will also make it possible to monitor the companies’ financial activity,” Baktuku continues. “All receipts will be deposited and processed through the Bank.” There are currently around 1,500 buses in Albania operating on interurban routes. About 500 are expected to remain outside this system, while 200 of them have serious defects. A company will operate a set number of buses—as many as needed to provide transport according to the timetable—as well as some reserve buses, which will account for 40 percent of the vehicles assigned to the route. “To work for these companies or their agencies, one will also need a certificate of good character. This means a criminal-record certificate confirming that, during the past 5 years, the driver or prospective employee has not been convicted of ordinary crimes.”

TIRANA — The Gazidede case has returned to Parliament. Prime Minister Meksi—called to answer an interpellation—responded to questions concerning the head of SHIK. Meksi defended Gazidede, saying that he had carried out and would continue to carry out the duties assigned to him in fulfilling SHIK’s legally defined purpose. He also pointed out that SHIK reports directly to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. The request for this interpellation—which Meksi called unfounded—had been made by the group of independent MPs.

An international conference is being sought PRISHTINA — (p.re.) — The Albanian Liberal Party has appealed to all liberal parties in Europe. It is asking them to exert strong influence on their governments so that an International Conference on the Kosovo issue can be held. The idea was announced at a press conference held by the liberals in Prishtina. Kosovo’s political groups were also asked to put pressure on European and world diplomacy to work toward achieving this objective. The Liberal Party views this Conference as a means of giving the people of Kosovo the opportunity not only to express their will, but also to turn it into a decisive factor in resolving the important problems weighing on their Republic. At this press conference, the Kosovo liberals also reaffirmed their determination not to participate in the Serbian elections that will be held soon. They stressed that any Albanian’s participation in the Serbian elections would be tantamount to national treason.

MEETINGS IN TIRANA OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE “ON HUMAN RIGHTS” OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE — Important meetings in Tirana of the Committee “On Human Rights” of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Representatives of this committee met with various bodies and institutions, and also had a long conversation with Pjetër Arbnori, Chairman of the People’s Assembly. Arbnori gave them an overview of developments in Albania over the past two years and of the state of, and respect for, human rights. Their conversation was followed by a meeting behind closed doors. The European representatives were also received by President Berisha. TWO EMPLOYEES BUY THE FIER PRINTING HOUSE — The Fier printing house has also been privatized. It was bought by its employees. They paid 2.6 million lekë. This printing house is one of the first facilities to be privatized in the Fier district. The list also includes the Bread Factory, the Construction Enterprise, the Industrial Enterprise and the Pato(s) Construction Enterprise. MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE ENROL IN FOREIGN-LANGUAGE COURSES IN BERAT — There is considerable interest in learning foreign languages in Berat. More than 1,000 people have enrolled in specially opened courses. They are mainly young people. English is the most in-demand language, followed by Italian. The courses are held in the afternoon so that those who are working can attend as well. CEREMONY HELD IN TIRANA FOR THE REBURIAL OF THREE CATHOLIC PRIESTS — A ceremony was held in Tirana for the reburial of the remains of dom Mark Cushi, dom Zef Bici and dom Shtjefën Kurti, three Catholic priests from Tirana. All three priests were arrested and later executed by the communist regime. The ceremony was organized by the Tirana parish “Zoja e Papërlyeme”. A Mass was also held in their memory, celebrated by Monsignor Zef Simoni, Bishop of Shkodër. A memorial plaque was installed in the “Zemra e Krishtit” church in Tirana. AN EXHIBITION OF ITALIAN BOOKS IN GJIROKASTËR — Around 4,000 Italian books are on display in an exhibition inaugurated in Gjirokastër. The books were donated to the University of Gjirokastër by the “Agimi” association of Otranto. The Italian Embassy and its ambassador, Foresti, also made a special contribution to the exhibition.

The Albanian Gazette’s initiative to give readers an old panorama of the Italian city has been a great success. Many people have asked for the issue of the newspaper that will include this feature in the coming days. In order to meet readers’ requests, the Albanian Gazette will continue publishing panoramas of the city. The print will be in the form of an engraving and will be this week’s gift: a panorama of Potenza.

FIER Financial Police inspection FIER — (Su.Bo.) The Financial Police have been inspecting private and state activity in the Fier district. The inspections—carried out in cooperation with other districts—have uncovered irregularities, resulting in the seizure of considerable sums. These days, the final amounts of the fines imposed by the Financial Police on bread producers were established. The confiscated amount totals 1,632,320 lekë. This is because the two enterprises acted in response to the Council of Ministers’ decision in June of this year to change the price of bread. The entire difference collected through speculation will go to the state budget. The Financial Police’s activities have also included the seizure of two tanker trucks—destined for Macedonia—which were valued at 104,500 lekë. “To support the work and activities of this police force,” Albert Trokra, Head of the Financial Police, told the Gazette, “recently we installed a computer with a satellite antenna.”

Without jobs or shelter, they now risk being forgotten by the bureaucracy as well There are about 50, and they have lived in dormitories for years Without jobs or shelter, they now risk being forgotten by the bureaucracy as well Orphans abandoned once again There are about 50, and they have lived in dormitories for years TIRANA — (An.St.) — Orphans in Albania have been abandoned once again. This concerns those orphans who have completed some of secondary school or left school, and are now entering adult life. Their needs and their future must be addressed. The Albanian ministries responsible for supporting a number of these young people have carried out important activities in the dormitories, even though the young people are no longer connected with school. This is because many of these young people are orphans and the municipalities can do nothing for them. In Tirana there are about 50 such orphans living in secondary-school dormitories: 12 at the Technology school, 6 at the Electrical school, 3 at the Pedagogical school, and so on. The same phenomenon is said to exist in Shkodër, Durrës, Korçë, Berat, Fier and Gjirokastër. They have to identify themselves and organize through the local authorities. Otherwise, they will have to fend for themselves and seek what they need. All this is happening despite the existence of a Government Decision obliging all these authorities to employ and house orphans within two months of their ending their school relationship. But the municipalities do not do this, even though some of them have had 2–3 such cases to deal with. What is worse is that the municipalities have not even provided the dormitories with funds to feed these students. These children have lived through 2–3 such cases to choose from. What is worse is that the municipalities have not even provided the dormitories with funds to feed these students. One of the children housed in an orphanage

Italian secret services scandal widens Accusation against the President of the Republic ON PAGE 2 A week without a “derby,” but with matches that are just as tough and interesting Apolonia agrees to play against Flamurtari ON PAGE 3 A photograph of a group of people at a meeting.