Prosecutors: “They abused their office” Ruli, Uka and Hoxha under the weight of accusations of illegal exports Along with the fireworks, scandals also explode CARLO BOLLINO TIRANA – New Year is coming, and along with the holiday the fireworks burst. But not only in the skies over Albania. Explosions – less joyful but no less noisy – are burning these days in the palaces of power as well. Three noisy and unpredictable scandals have engulfed important figures in the political world and in the institutions. The president of the Court of Cassation, Zef Brozi, has announced that some pieces of evidence and accusations were separated, since he had been acting in the line of duty and often granted leniency in these cases. Then the tension eased, the request was reduced, but the incident (because up to this point it seems it must have been only an incident triggered in the course of review) once again showed that nothing is untouchable. “Fireworks” too for Genc Ruli and Artan Hoxha, former ministers who once held important positions and were at the center of an open polemic. Today their names, together with that of Rexhep Uka, are suddenly brought down, linked to the surreal case of an alleged scandal involving timber exports to Italy. On Saturday “Gazeta për të Dielën” by Albert Gajo, the first former Albanian timber minister under the fallen prime minister Meksi, made a loud denunciation: “The evidence with documentation shows that these three ministers falsified a document in Aleksandër Meksi, in the period when it should have happened there, and for Gajo there would also be a free document of personal orders.” For a long time corruption has been spoken of within the high system, and the intervention of the courts cannot be expected; it is welcome. What matters is that matters be clarified quickly, so that the real guilty are punished and the innocent can continue their lives. Perhaps this is the most meaningful wish that, in these confused festive days, we feel we would like for our future. Remembering that politics cannot be made with justice, but that justice must never be stopped. Nor altered. Nor for political reasons. TIRANA – Shadows of the suspected walnut-log export scandal are now also hanging over three former ministers. On Thursday the Prosecutor General Alush Dragoshi sent Parliament the request to strip Genc Ruli, former Minister of Economy and Finance and currently chairman of the parliamentary commission overseeing the entire economy of the country, and Rexhep Uka, former deputy prime minister who had previously been removed from his post, of immunity. Another former senior official, who for some time had held public office, former Minister of Defense and Foreign Economic Relations Artan Hoxha is now under investigation. After much speculation in the press, the accusations this time have truly materialized. According to the Prosecutor’s investigations – which have continued intensively for a month by a group of investigators gathered from several districts of the country and in absolute silence – it has been concluded that “all three have now committed the criminal offense of abuse of office.” An accusation which, if proven, carries sentences of many years in prison. The whole story concerns a suspicious transport of walnut logs from Albania to Italy. It took place in the summer two years earlier, when 409 cubic meters of the precious wood – according to the Prosecutor’s Office, illegally taken from the country’s forests by people from the main timber companies and seized from illegal loggers – had left Albanian ports to arrive at three Adriatic ports in Italy. In connection with this, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Thursday that the company which bought the logs, “Italalba”, has also been mentioned, although no charge has been brought against it. According to the same source, on 13 July 1992 the three former ministers signed an order that made possible the shipment of the logs to the Italian markets. Now it is up to the MPs to decide about their parliamentary colleagues. Only if the removal of immunity is approved can the investigations begin, which will clarify the role of each person in the whole affair. For the same case, a former senior official of the former General Directorate of Forests has meanwhile ended up in prison. Mahmud Xhelili was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Tirana. The charge formulated against him in legal language is: “he carried out actions contrary to the proper fulfillment of his duty by influencing the authorization of the export of walnut logs.” (p.e.) Genc Ruli

New Year’s Day, a greeting to all readers Television marathon: songs and jokes On page 3 The restaurants of the capital await families On page 3 Rock, rap, slow songs and cocktails, for everyone On page 3

Cassation removes it from Gjirokastra TIRANA – The long “journey” of MP Lika’s file comes to an end. Finally, at the request of the defendants themselves, the Court of Cassation has taken it away from them – it has decided that the trial route for the four people accused of cigarette smuggling should end precisely at the Tirana Court. Thus the judges of the capital will have to take over and hold the proceedings on the day when Arben Lika, Dashnor Shero, Hajredin Dalli and Edmond Meçe appear in the courtroom. The special itinerary had left an order behind: the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office – at the end of November ’94 – had completed the investigations against the four accused of “smuggling” and of complicity in “forgery of official documents,” but the file was sent to the Tirana Court; however, since the acts for which the defendants are accused had been committed in Gjirokastra, it was decided that its judges should also conduct the trial. It then took the intervention of the Court of Cassation, which finally transferred the process to the capital. (e. l.)

Activists address the government and the opposition Appeal by the Helsinki Committee TIRANA – An appeal for the highest sense of responsibility on the part of state officials and, at the same time, a serious commitment from the opposition forces in the situation Albania is currently going through was issued yesterday by the Albanian Helsinki Committee. The committee’s statement stressed that the grave situation – the worsening political climate, the extraordinary electricity situation and the difficulties of the transition – have led to “clear cases of malfunctioning of the state apparatus as well as the worrying emergence of disobedience to it.” The Committee also notes a decline. deterioration of enforcement standards that endanger and threaten human rights. “Faced with this situation, the statement calls for the need for ‘understanding and readiness on the part of all citizens, who must carry out their duties as citizens by strictly respecting the law. Let the new year be welcomed with a spirit of optimism and hope, with the determination of everyone to make persistent efforts so that the country may continue advancing toward democracy and prosperity,’ the statement concludes.

Furniture scandal “The work stoppage without our[?] the leaders of the “Misto Mame” combine” This is the request of the State Control group, made after the discovery of many abuses and inaccuracies in the activity of this institution. The criminal prosecution of three former top leaders is also requested, who today are in... [unclear] ... another unit[?]. According to the information gathered, especially the spending of public property, the liberal attitude maintained toward false facts has led to the loss of several million lek. The case of the furniture combine follows the successive cases of institutions across the country, which have caused incalculable damage to the state. Mirditë: tragic accident 4 passengers have died and 12 others have been injured in a serious road accident. The terrible event happened in Kaçinar, Mirditë, when all the injured were travelling in a “Liaz” truck. On a bend in the road, the truck fell into a ravine. As a result, three young women and a 23-year-old man died. All the victims were from Lezhë and Mirditë. The truck driver, Naim Matjan, was immediately detained by the police, and the expert examination found that the vehicle had technical defects.

Two funeral companies offer to help the Albanian family Two coffins for Shpresa A solidarity race for the girl killed in Italy BARI – A solidarity campaign has begun for Shpresa, the Albanian girl killed in Milan, whose body is in a refrigerated room in the morgue of Milan cemetery, awaiting transport to Albania. Within 24 hours, two companies, one from Brindisi and the other from Milan, declared that they want to donate a coffin free of charge to make it possible to send the body home. “Pecucci” of Brindisi and the company “San Sirio” of Milan sent a fax saying they were ready to solve this problem by helping actively and for free. On Monday, phone calls reached “Gazeta Shqiptare”, wreaths, peto[?], and what they could do to offer their help. But in Milan the matter has not been fully resolved. In the Milan morgue, for reasons unknown, the body was not handed over yesterday morning for removal. The waiting was doubled by the morgue registrar. After 40 minutes Kanani arrived again, and we met him with number 116. “But the body cannot be removed,” they replied to us. The judge handling the investigation, Milan deputy prosecutor Dr. Francesco Prete, has not yet set the date of the autopsy. “The judge is on holiday, they told us at the Prosecutor’s Office. He returns around 3 January; call us then.” “It is the first time that a body has remained for days waiting for an autopsy,” they said in the morgue, understandably. That is why they could not find the name. Shpresa’s dramatic story therefore remains unresolved even now that two coffins are ready. The autopsy must be awaited. “And what remains, so that you have not thought it would be read there. It is Christmas and ...” He went and scolded her on the 16th qori and has lost the child, no so, ...[?] Franco Giuliano

Will the champion also end up roasted in a baking dish? KRUJË – Perhaps today Krujë will have a very original champion: the turkey with power. The champion perhaps will not have the chance to boast about his title; the glory of a day in the baking dish will leave roasted – for a respite the championship started a few days ago has turned into a truly important event for the inhabitants at this year’s end. The championship also had its strict rules: the turkey taken in hand has the right to fight. Only the flow awaits the heavy wings and so on. Thus in the final stage, the swimmers under the spoon and then the main match among the candidates for champion. The matches were thirty minutes long, spent in a very fierce duel. Real injuries were sustained. Earlier they would polish[?] in an open square, with the aim that for a decade in the town, the people of Krujë had practiced near the grave and... [?] (M. Ar.)

The child is injured FIER – The desire to have a fir branch for New Year nearly cost him his life. It happened in the early afternoon hours of Wednesday in Fier. The 9-year-old F. had climbed up a tall fir tree, but a slippery slide caused him to fall and sustain head injuries. The little boy was urgently taken to the intensive care unit of the Fier hospital, where his damaged body is still struggling with death.

ELBASAN/ An episode of solidarity ELBASAN – “A child was in the last moments of life but was saved by a nearly unknown person, who did not even want to be identified before the parents, who were later overjoyed by the saving of their son.” It happened in Elbasan only a few days after the body of a little boy was found lifeless on the bank of the Shkumbin. In the harsh and dark times in which life appears to us, it sometimes suddenly reveals stories of boundless human solidarity. On Tuesday afternoon the 10-year-old Valter Biku had almost unwittingly been found by a woman near the tracks running close to Elbasan. It was precisely this woman – who thus becomes the main protagonist of this story – who immediately took the little boy to the hospital. The doctors’ intervention meant that the child’s life – by now his worried parents were already there too – came out of danger after a few days. The benevolent woman appeared again, and even afterward. The boy’s parents, with lighter hearts, called her an “angel.” They wanted to thank her in every possible way and learn more about her (she had simply replied: “My name is Mimoza, that’s enough”). Husband and wife were moved by this behavior. “We did not want to ... just say that there are still people whose hearts have not been corrupted by this savage time.” Little Valter, out of his coma, remembers nothing of the bad adventure that had happened to him. “I had a beautiful dream where some lovely flowers were falling and a tall man,” he later told his parents, shivering. In a sense, all of this really was a beautiful dream. Mentor Kikia

Dudayev surrounded asks for talks ON PAGE 2 New accusations against the Serbs for racial persecution ON PAGE 2

MATE-IMPEX PETROL TRADING Wishes its customers and partners a happy New Year 1995. Success in work and in life President Bramini Furlan