Drastic measures and sanctions against Albania are being demanded. The Greek Defense Minister “inspects” his troops on the border between the two countries TENSION / Athens opposes dialogue with Tirana TIRANE — The tension between Tirana and Athens is becoming more dramatic, and at times even more strained diplomatically. Just a few hours after the President of Albania, Sali Berisha, had called — through TVSH — for dialogue with Greece to overcome the crisis, the highest Greek authorities not only sharply opposed it, but also threatened and announced that they would seek drastic measures against Albania, exploiting for this purpose even the name of the European Union leadership. Meanwhile, the Greek Defense Minister, Arsenis, on Tuesday, began a broad “inspection” of the Greek-Albanian border. On Monday, another high-ranking Greek official had once again raised the card of the “400,000 illegal Albanian refugees”, who — according to him — had no reason to remain in Greece. Also, a very last Greek party — in the part of the Albanian Embassy in Athens — has called for pressure on the Greek Prime Minister, Papandreou, asking him — after the propagandistic statement from the U.S. State Department — to explain in any case the results of last week’s visit to the United States. On the other hand, it is Vasili Mejo himself, Chairman of the United Party, an ally of the Rightists of the North, who, when asked by Gazeta Shqiptare — denied the rumors spread that he had recently been arrested and that another important “Omonia” activity in Albania, or the withdrawal of borders and the PBDNJ deputy, who had asked to leave for Greece together with his whole family. “We are determined to take the most drastic measures against Albania if we have to face the situation,” said Greek Foreign Minister Papulias on Tuesday morning, always referring to the “situation created by the Greek minority”. This statement — together with the rejection of the Albanian proposal for dialogue — was made only a few hours after the President of Albania, Sali Berisha, had told the Greek authorities that: “Albania is deeply determined to create models for the treatment of minorities in the region and to uphold all the rights provided for by the Copenhagen Charter.” It is a fact that only recently — as the worsening of tensions between Tirana and Athens has taken on new tones — many international institutions such as the CSCE, the European Parliament and, most recently, the American Congress, have called these facts undeniable, even repeatedly reaffirming them. With the latest dramatic escalation, Greece may ultimately wish to harden its stance toward Albania, while it has problems with Albanians in Kosovo and with Turkey over Macedonia. After the complete turn in Greek-Albanian relations, at the center of attention came the Greek Defense Minister, Arsenis, at the Greek-Albanian border. Although Arsenis stated that “this inspection has been planned for a long time and has nothing to do with the situation created in Greek-Albanian relations”, this move was nevertheless viewed with concern by international observers. “The implementation of a route in the interest of the border”, at a time when Albania has not posed any threat or territorial claim toward Greece, are signals that above all affect the Balkans. Commenting on Greece’s latest moves in its relations with Albania, the Albanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that: “The Bosnian game in the south of the Balkans means a broader conflict than a Balkan one.” Edmond Laçi The Greek-Albanian border

The triumph of the free press in Albania TIRANE — The triumph of the free press. And in the new history of Albanian democracy, a few memories of 31 May 1994. Albania joins all those civilized countries that no longer have a single jailed journalist, and indeed the press as a whole is thus consolidated within the civic tradition of the West. President of the Republic Sali Berisha, who on World Press Day had spoken to the entire Albanian press, denounced as “crimes” various journalists “active in two professions”. This time it is Albanian justice, through the Court of Cassation — on Tuesday morning — that finally acquitted Aleksandër Frangaj and Martin Leka of the newspaper “Koha Jonë”, who had been found guilty and sentenced a few months earlier by the first- and second-instance courts for “using state secrets” and “public insult”. Among the three appeals submitted to Cassation was also that of serviceman Romeo Lici, whose sentence was reduced from four years to only one, served free. “The ‘innocence’ of President Berisha must be admitted; the process was not awaited with joyful emotion — Aleksandër Frangaj, editor-in-chief of the daily “Koha Jonë”, told Gazeta Shqiptare immediately after the Cassation ruling — although, yesterday in things I do not know, after all it is Justice itself that corrects the absurd and unspeakable decisions.” Thus the leaders find artificial links between accusations and power, the arrest of Frangaj and Leka shortly after the publication in their newspaper of an order — then considered secret — signed by Safet Zhulali, Minister of Defence. Examined also through several other cases — where the media were accused of “criticism” carried out during their professional activity — so as to reduce the prominence of the free press in the Albanian press and the debates themselves about the free press. Until Sali Berisha, President of the Republic — through a special decree — requested amnesty for all convicted Albanian journalists. The Court of Cassation ruling — beyond the acquittal of Frangaj and Leka — establishes a new climate for the free press in Albania. A press that has only just begun to free itself from old repression, disinformation and manipulation, and that has decided to use the proper mission of its profession. And today? Every day the Albanian press will still need to be able to[?] (Ed. La.)

The stories of those tortured in the prisons of the dictatorship Today’s seminar on the treatment of victims The psychotherapeutic treatment of people who still suffer from the severe consequences of the torture of the dictatorship in Albania will be at the center of a special scientific seminar that begins today at the Palace of Congresses in Tirane. For three days, some of the best-known experts in this field will exchange experience and knowledge with Albanian colleagues — who have already been engaged for some time in healing the psychological and physical wounds still suffered by a large part of the victims of the dictatorship — in the area of therapeutic treatment. The important activity has been organized by a section of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee — Aid Norway Albania — which is focused on helping former prisoners together with the International Council for Victims of Torture based in Copenhagen. The latter organization has also been very active in the major support it has given to the Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture in Tirana The psychiatric hospital in Tirana TIRANE — They are stories that seem to come from another world, unreal. In the universe of hallucinations and bad dreams that still haunt the throat of the wounded soul and the truth of human beings forever brought back to life. Perhaps for some time now, if they cannot be tortured, for many people the tortures experienced in the past are still very present in the form of images that continue to cause suffering. These are the stories told by the doctors of the Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture in Tirana. The center is relatively new. It began its activity six years ago. A group of four doctors work there, including two psychiatrists, one neurologist and one general practitioner. To date, hundreds of torture victims who suffered severe consequences have been treated there — psychotherapy was started for the first time in Albania here — and the experience gained so far by the doctors is considerable. “Almost all the patients treated by us — says doctor Ugerd Zavalani — still bear on their bodies the physical signs of savage torture.” Zavalani speaks about one of the two men who now have serious injuries to the spinal column and limbs. Many still carry the scars caused by cigarette burns from the torturers. In all of them the signs of premature aging are evident. The affected are elderly and suffer greatly from chronic bronchitis and asthma. But the most serious — and hardest to cure — are the psychological consequences from which the tortured suffer. Dr. Valentina Peshkallxhi, one of the two specialists dealing with psychotherapeutic treatment, tells striking cases. Among them is the story of a young girl from Pogradec who still cannot shake the terror experienced in the dark cells and especially the face of her torturer. The story of the young woman from Pogradec — she was then a minor girl — begins many years earlier. After her father was sentenced to 9 years in prison, the whole family was arrested, including two minor children, and the pregnant mother was sent into internal exile. There the suffering for the young girl began, because while she tried to cross the border, everyone else was caught by the border guards. Her mother tried to kill herself by swallowing a large quantity, while the girl was locked for two months in a narrow cell from where she could see only — through the bars — the face of the guard and torturer. It is this face that appears to her obsessively and with enormous eyes. The sounds in the dark continue to frighten her from sleep and she understands that the dream has repeated itself and now tortures her every night. “With psychotherapeutic treatment the patient has begun to improve — says Dr. Peshkallxhi — and the deformed face of the guard is now beginning to disappear more and more.” More dangerous is the condition of a patient from Tirana. Arrested at the time of the “fight against liberalism”, he spent many years in the prisons of the dictatorship. His only fault was that he had read foreign literature, the kind that circulated illegally without being checked by censorship. Doctors now say that he suffers from a dangerous syndrome. At certain moments he becomes aggressive even with members of his own family. In the moment of rage he explained to doctors that he feels. “I hear inner voices ordering me to kill — he said — and many of them I have heard for a long time; they are the voices of my executioners.” These were only two of the documented cases that the doctors hear every day as they try to soften the consequences of these people’s suffering. Some, especially the younger ones, have begun to show visible improvement, but in the memory of all, without exception, the severe suffering they endured will remain engraved forever. Fatos Baxhaku

Greece toward elections for the European Parliament Papandreou does not run as a candidate ON PAGE 2 The progress of privatization shown in figures Another 3,000 enterprises in process ON PAGE 3

THE "CAMERIA" ASSOCIATION PROTESTS AGAINST THE LETTER OF THE HEAD OF "OMONIA" — Last night the patriotic political association “Çamëria” protested against the letter that the head of “Omonia” sent to the former Greek prime minister Micotaqis. “We want to remind the rebels and those standing behind them — the protest says — that the ‘Çam Issue’ is not a rhetorical or technical invention of Albanian political parties, as stated in the recent letter of the General Council of “Omonia”, but a deed carried out in practice by the fiercest chauvinism, which expelled us with genocide from our millennia-old homes,” continues the statement of the “Camëria” association. BREDAR, 50 THOUSAND DOLLARS WORTH OF SMUGGLED GOODS — A shipment of goods that passed through customs without declaration, worth 5 million [?] — 500 electric stoves valued at 50 thousand dollars — has arrived addressed to a trading company called “Republika”, a company that does not exist in this city. Meanwhile, the owner of a company with that name in Lushnjë denies being the one who ordered the electric stoves. At present — although the investigations continue — all this merchandise has remained ownerless and has been considered smuggled. KORÇE, VETERAN FEMALE FOOTBALLERS OF "SKENDERBEU" PLAY AGAINST THEIR GREEK COUNTERPARTS — The women’s football match held in the city of Korça was quite unusual. In the stadium, in a rematch, the veteran women football teams of “Skënderbeu” and their counterparts from Greece faced each other. The match — proposed by Korça footballers — ended in a 2:2 draw.

CROSS-SECTIONAL REALITY TIRANE — An attempted suicide in Tirana. A 17-year-old girl tried yesterday afternoon to end her life by consuming a considerable quantity of medication. The girl, with the initials L.M., was urgently admitted to the toxicology hospital, where her condition was assessed as very serious. Hospital sources say that the young woman took the fatal decision because of ongoing quarrels with family members and her severe psychological state. The phenomenon, especially among the young, is not accidental. In fact, it is spreading and reaching worrying proportions. “As happens in the world as well, in these cases,” explains to Gazeta Shqiptare z[?]hin Sula, head of the Toxicology Center of the university hospital — drug abuse usually occurs with highly toxic substances, and they have been confirmed as one of the most widespread and most used means of carrying out a suicide. This happens mainly in adolescent age groups and is characterized by a social and psychological number”, Sula concludes. Ar. Me. Medicines can also serve as dangerous weapons

ANYTHING TO SELL? ANYTHING TO BUY? ANYTHING TO SELL? ANYTHING TO BUY? This space is free for your economic notices. Send your message (no longer than 15 words) to one of our addresses: In Tirana: Rruga Bajram Curri, 370, or in Bari: Viale Scipione l'Africano, 264. Indicate in your message what you are looking for and offering, your name and address FOR SALE — a two-storey house with 4 rooms and about 450 square meters of yard with pergolas in Tirana, near the Poligrafiku, the house has two entrances. Price 4,000,000 lekë. Interested parties should call with the address “A.G. Laçi” “Ali Demi” Rruga “Shemdri Agolli” Këpuri near Ura e Boi [?] FOR SALE a house with three rooms, a kitchen and a yard. Will exchange for one room and one kitchen in the center of Tirana (price difference in lekë). Contact Baki Baku at these addresses: Rruga Sami Frashëri number 67 (near the Fire Brigade) near the Hydroelectric Power Station laboratory. WANTED — to exchange my home in Shkodër for an apartment in Tirana. The apartment I have consists of one room and a kitchen with a balcony in one of the main buildings of Shkodër. Interested parties may present themselves at the address: Lagjja “Perash” Rruga “Daut Boriçi” building 1.127, entrance 2. Apartment 5, first floor, Shkodër. WE SELL — branded construction materials, catabriket, carts and others. Interested parties should contact Palati i Kulturës number 1. FOR SALE — a two-storey house in Kavajë with ten rooms and two bathrooms which used to be the house of the policeman [?.] Interested parties should contact also in Durrës 052/23571. FOR SALE — two shops 40 square meters in Napoli number seven of Lane number 6 in Laprakë) and one electric bread oven, German-made. Contact number 3334 in Tirana at any hour. FOR RENT — one room and a kitchen with a balcony. Interested parties should contact the phone number 26076 or the address: Rruga “Kongresi i Përmetit”, building 11, staircase 1. Apartment I in Tirana (opposite the Yugoslav Embassy). WE ARE LOOKING FOR — a worker for the agency of the firm “Drita”. Interested parties should contact the telephone number 4690 for detailed information.