The current adviser to Meksi, Gajo, is also indicted. Charges of abuse of office and falsification of official documents put both of them behind the walls of the capital EDMOND LAÇI TIRANE - Meksi betrayed by the signatory [?]. It is precisely his current adviser on the economy, as well as the former Minister of Transport and Communications, the two people who are now accused of having forged a special decision of the Albanian Prime Minister, Aleksandër Meksi. And this comes just as the story of a tender for the Albanian Telecom has become public - an investigation into which has been underway for a month - and has “confined” Albert Gajo and Fatos Bitincka within the walls of the capital, two figures who are far from unimportant in the senior Albanian administration. On the 25th and 27th of this month, Meksi’s current adviser on the economy and the former Minister of Transport and Communications were formally charged by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic, while for both of them the precautionary measure chosen was an “obligation to appear” from their place of residence until the end of the investigation. The new scandal - according to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic - began on 22 September of this year, when the former Minister of Transport and Communications, Bitincka, ordered the amendment of a decision by the Albanian Telecom Commission. According to this commission, the winning company for the construction of Albania’s telephone cable network had been the French firm “Alcatel Siette”, whereas the change made by the former minister of transport concerned the tender that had been launched - the foreign firm “Telcom”. The way in which this action was handled also involved the Council of Ministers, which, examining Minister Bitincka’s action, described it as “unfounded in the rules and laws in force.” It was precisely at that moment that Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi’s close involvement with the economy adviser Albert Gajo came under scrutiny. According to the investigators, Bitincka and Gajo - in cooperation with each other - forged the Council of Ministers’ decision on Thursday, in the offices, dated 31 October ’94. It is a two-page decision, the first page of which has changed the wording, while the second - where Prime Minister Meksi’s original signature is found - has been attached later. The current charges against the 45-year-old former minister Fatos Bitincka are for “abuse of office” and “forgery of official documents,” while Gajo is charged only with “forgery of official documents.” The first to be placed under criminal responsibility was Meksi’s adviser, Gajo, while Bitincka met with the investigators the following day. Also Ruli, Ilka and Hoxha... TIRANE - Three other well-known figures from the politics of recent years are now facing a charge of abuse of office. Genc Ruli, former Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Bexhet Hoxha, former Deputy Prime Minister recently removed from that post, and Artan Hoxha, former Minister for Foreign Relations, may also have to answer to a charge of abuse of office filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Two days earlier, the latter had asked Parliament to lift the parliamentary immunity of Ruli and Xh. in order to make it possible to pursue their criminal cases. According to a statement from the Prosecutor’s Office distributed yesterday to the country’s media and official information outlets, in July and two weeks earlier the two had signed an order - described as unlawful by the prosecution - which later affected the procurement price for Albania, named after it, and brought major changes. Also according to the prosecution, the authors of the order all benefited before crossing the country’s borders. In the same case, the former Director General of Forests has ended up in prison. Fatos Bitincka

Head of the Cassation: “This is a coup” TIRANE - In response as a judge, the Prosecutor’s Office has requested an investigation into the President of the Court of Cassation as well, proposing to Parliament that his parliamentary immunity be lifted. Brozi reacted sharply: “The action taken against me is an unconstitutional coup.” Later in the parliamentary chamber, the official in the debate, referring to the prosecution brought by Alush Dragoshi, the Prosecutor General, the president of the Cassation described it as an organized act: “From those who act in the name of others and in cooperation with those who have competence only in requests like these, you can expect anything. Dragoshi himself later told Gazeta Shqiptare that Brozi cannot decide without taking orders from others. This is clear from the way it was presented. I am not a messenger, and I found out the news while it was being discussed.” Only a few hours later, in yesterday’s afternoon session, the Mandates Commission rejected the Prosecutor’s request as unfounded. Meanwhile, the chairman of the PD parliamentary group asked the Constitutional Court to examine whether Parliament has the right to lift or not lift the immunity of the President of the Cassation. The case, which has lasted long enough for the Albanian prosecution to seek a measure against one of the main figures in one of the Republic’s calmer procedures, was considered to involve revoking the arrest measure and fully reopening, with the other suspicions under investigation. The senior judge may thus have to go back again without serious violations of competence. All this, however, seems not to have troubled the number one man of the Albanian Palace of Justice at all. He speaks calmly, with confidence, and is not afraid of being accused. “This is the mindset of the President and the Albanian Government. But I will remain President of the Cassation and I am convinced that Parliament will not fall into such traps,” Brozi continues, according to whom the all-out attacks against him have even intensified simply because he did not agree and did not accept “to make a compromise on the meaning of the people’s rights, which are being unjustly violated.” The Supreme Court of the Republic and the Prosecutor General have asked the President of the Cassation “to step aside and appear before the government,” Brozi explains - it is difficult after the referendum. But why these attacks? “The leaders after the Constitution wanted me removed,” Brozi told Gazeta Shqiptare - and along with me a list of other officials who would be dismissed had been prepared. Also, the stance I took during and after the campaign seems not to have pleased them. And now we are on the eve of the trial against four members of Omonia, and they fear that I might do something they do not like.” But Brozi is not afraid and does not back down: “As of today,” he declared yesterday before journalists, “my open fight against the injustices of the high Albanian authorities begins.” Armand Mero Zef Brozi

“Maybe he won’t play again” VLORE - Sorrow among the fervent fans of Vlorë. One of the stars of Vlorë football: Guri Dema, one of the most reliable defenders of the Albanian national team, may no longer play football. Dema and his brother were injured on Wednesday at noon while they were shot at together with footballer Nijadn near the rice factory. Two attackers fired at Dema, hitting him directly in the leg and seriously damaging the tibia of his right leg. As a result, Dema’s career is now in serious danger. “The salary he will receive is not a problem and he won’t be able to run and start walking, but it is hard to believe he can play football again,” said the doctor at a Vlorë clinic that is treating the injured footballer. The causes of this serious attack are still unknown. Dema was shot in the leg by two attackers who had approached on a motorcycle and fired from close range. It appears the aggressors’ target was precisely the footballer’s legs. The club “Flamurtari” - where Dema played for many years - reacted very strongly; its players demanded that the attackers be found and punished immediately. Dema had just returned from Slovenia, where he plays with a first-division team. Stavri Marko

The body of the unfortunate victim Astrit Shupina, 22 years old from the village of Golem, has now also been recovered from the cold waters of Lake Shkodër. Now, after the shocking boat tragedy, the tenth victim remains wandering at the bottom of the lake: 25-year-old Lek Dela from Golem. Seman, a small port The old tradition will be sought again. The people of Fier are thinking about a small port on the banks of the Seman to facilitate the import of their goods. Many merchants are ready to finance its reconstruction, as in the 1930s.

But the indictment will be read next year TIRANE - “I do not accept the accusation on any point.” Speaking in this way to Gazeta Shqiptare, the man who still has his signature on all Albanian banknotes warns of his future stance before the judges. In any case, together with Ilir Hoti - in the words of year 2 - accused of fraud and kept behind bars in prison, they will also hear in the courtroom Agaron Saliu, Agrin Tartari, V. son Amla and Adrian Xhyhori. All are involved in the story of 1.6 million dollars - called “the Arsidi scandal” - as defendants. Being at the center of this long trial, Ilir Hoti, Ah, Neli, Saliu and Tartari in the trial that began yesterday. Photo: A. Babani appeared yesterday at the court in the capital. However, everything will begin only after a year, because yesterday the judges dealt with the requests submitted by the defendants and their lawyers. “None of our requests was accepted,” Hoti tells Gazeta Shqiptare, although he is now obliged to abide by the decision that gives prosecutors the right - in January ’95 - to issue the indictment. Ed. Laçi

Mid-January is the deadline Government order: “Pay for the cash registers” TIRANE - The Government’s ultimatum to merchants. If by 15 January of next year they have not paid the value of the cash registers, strong sanctions will be imposed on them. Although months have passed since fiscal and tax cash registers were first installed for city merchants along the line, many merchants oppose paying the rental fee of 40,000 leke. And undoubtedly one of their claims to this year’s government, which was around, was finally met by the Government intervening. They also have more than 15 days’ deadline for sellers and merchants. In case of non-payment, even these can be fined at a value twice what they were given for the register. a.s.

The Chechen final assault on Grozny On page 2 Algeria: the killers are being pursued On page 2 Abandoned on the outskirts of the celebration On page 2 A fir tree with toys for orphaned children On page 3

BARI - A coffin for Shpresa. She had left home far away, from Përmet; she had dreamed a lot while trying to change her life a little: her lifeless body was found two days ago in Milan, on Kyroses Padari street; buried, as informed friends had promised her a better life. Now the body of Shpresa Kanani (whose tragic story was written by Gazeta Shqiptare) is, according to the arrangement, in the refrigerator of the Lambrate cemetery morgue. It should be transferred by some Albanian embassies in Rome, through the financial company in Milan, to document the payment by the family of the expenses for buying the coffin; 4 million lire. For Shpresa’s parents, peasants on a small plot in a poor area of Albania, this is an extraordinary sum that they do not have and cannot hope to have. Thus Shpresa’s body risks never returning to Albania. If, after the autopsy, which Judge Orlando Prete has not yet authorized, no one grants permission for the transfer, Shpresa’s corpse will be buried in one of the anonymous places in Milan’s cemeteries. Women. “On our side - explain the Albanian Embassy in Rome - we can only take responsibility for the transport costs of the corpse. When our document is added to the document for the purchase of the coffin, we will give instructions to the Ministry of Interior in Tirana to send a vehicle for the transfer of the body to Albania.” But the event is still bitter: it is far from easy to say what should be done. Now, in the focus of all this, the relatives of Shpresa who came to Tirana had to face the tragedy they had suffered. The fate of the pitiful and the coming and going dragged on in order to make them understand the heavy bureaucratic labyrinth. They will surely have also been informed by the officials who came from the Albanian Embassy in Rome. Afterwards, grieving and exhausted, the parents were left behind in the small southern town. Now Shpresa’s parents remain waiting, hoping that perhaps someone will remember to bring their daughter’s body to its final home. Now they too have begun to doubt whether they will at least see the body of their daughter, sent off to a distant world,” which was met with such cruel coldness - on a winter day. Distant Milan, in the wake of the New Year holidays, seems to have forgotten the tragedy of the young Albanian woman. Franco Giuliano

TIRANE - The first marriage in Albania with a modern “matchmaker” has been realized. It involved an Albanian girl who had been living there for four and a half years, and the couple is now making a request offered in her country. The marriage agency Love International, one of whose branches has been operating in Tirana for a few months, has made it possible to bring a couple together for marriage. A very welcome opportunity for many people who have not been able to find the love of their life. It was the 29-year-old Italian M. J. who wanted and looked for an Albanian girl as a wife. “They are beautiful women and they guarantee a quiet family life,” said the Italian who works as a policeman in San Remo. After seeing the photos and the very characteristic description of H. Sh., a 24-year-old from Shkodër, brunette and 1.65 meters tall - he offered the hour in which the agency staff dealing with marriages decided to come to Albania to see the girl candidate for future wife. Meanwhile, he also had friendly feelings and a “hum” seller - one of the first who was paid at the beginning in Tirana, walks, with two Albanian brothers. [illegible text at the end near the photo]

Teletext is now also being studied News from the computer: ATSH inaugurates the system TIRANE - Screen and computer news. The future of written information has finally arrived, and for the Albanian Telegraphic Agency it is a day to remember. ATSH chose precisely the day of the recruitment for the 66th anniversary of its founding to launch news; the route with a new system for receiving and transmitting news. Telegraphic. The new system makes it possible for news to appear on the agency’s computers and then on those of subscribers, offering a time advantage compared with the traditional system used until today. President Berisha was also present at yesterday’s ceremony. Another important step is being studied by the agency: the creation of teletext, which enables major subscribers to view news through the television screens of their sets. Teletext has become widespread in industrialized countries, thus serving as an immediate information tool. Private companies, government firms, state institutions and buyers, bank representatives and others use this kind of technology. It has become common for news to appear as part of the subscriber’s space within the press agency network.

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