Meksi too defends Ruli against the accusations The President and the Prime Minister spoke last night at the PD Parliamentary Group FATOS BAXHAKU TIRANA - For the first time, the Arsidi scandal has reached the sphere of the country's powerful figures. Last night, at a meeting of the Democratic Party's parliamentary group, President Sali Berisha and Prime Minister Aleksandër Meksi spoke out, explaining what they knew about the scandal and the accusations levelled against those involved, including Genc Ruli. Just one day earlier, Ruli had challenged both of them to tell the group everything they knew. Berisha and Meksi confirmed their defense of Ruli: he had no knowledge of the secret mandate appointing Nicolas Arsidi as negotiator of Albania's foreign debt, nor had the Minister of Finance been directly involved in negotiating the debt. Two important statements that may mark another turn in the complicated history of this financial scandal. This time Berisha categorically defended the party: “None of this money was used to finance the election campaign.” Berisha spoke first. The President explained what most directly connected him to the name Arsidi: the story of the Curtoisje Française medal. According to the President, it was an honorary title presented to him by Arsidi personally, but only on behalf of the Curtoisje board. Arsidi's credentials as a financier, Berisha presumed, subsequently convinced the Albanian authorities, including Berisha himself, that they were dealing with a completely trustworthy person. The President even mentioned a photograph of Arsidi with former Italian President Pertini. “I did not see,” Berisha later added, “the hidden purpose he may have had of making a profit.” It nevertheless remains a mystery who appointed Arsidi as debt negotiator. According to Berisha, the officials responsible for negotiations were initially Amato and later Andreata; Arsidi apparently emerged as negotiator to the Albanian authorities in October 1992, when the first bill was discounted. Berisha acknowledged that he himself had appointed Ruli as arbitrator in the matter of the reconstruction of the Hotel Tirana. Meksi spoke immediately after him. He too said that he had known nothing about Arsidi's appointment until October 1992. Meksi expressed the conviction—and Berisha confirmed this view—that Ruli knew nothing about Arsidi's mandate; the former minister was not directly involved in negotiating the foreign debt, and the person tasked with this was the then Governor of the Bank. Prime Minister Meksi also spoke at the Parliamentary Group about the accusations against Ruli. A view of them at a previous meeting (photo H. Pustina) Genc Ruli’s driver arrested in Tirana TIRANA - While the storm of accusations was directed at the chief, his driver unexpectedly ended up in prison. It is Hajri Lulaj, the driver of the car in which PD official Genc Ruli travels to the Albanian Parliament. Detained since January 21, Lulaj is now under arrest on the charge of “Threats related to the performance of duty.” The charge refers to the incident—already reported—in which the southern correspondent for “Voice of America,” Gëzim Basha, had got into a “Përpara” passenger car with three people. Before this incident—which has also landed the two Kavaja envoys in prison, or involved them in this trafficking (el.)

The Financial Police is calling for The Court of Cassation must now consider the extreme measure for 20 companies and their Albanian owners TIRANA - Drastic measures are being sought against 20 Albanian fuel companies. Following the suspension of their activities, revocation of their business permits and the companies’ licenses is now also being sought. It is Gjergj Lezha—the Director of the General Financial Police—who has just sent a letter to the Court of Cassation proposing strict measures against these companies and their owners. Thus, following the Albanian Government’s decision to tighten the embargo and the closure of thousands of fuel outlets in the northern border areas, the Financial Police’s latest request could be the biggest blow yet to Albania’s fuel market, perhaps aimed at minimizing opportunities for smuggling with the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Several of the companies whose licenses are now also being sought for revocation are very well known. Among them is “Ringjallja,” a company belonging to the association of former political prisoners, which has had conflicts with the Financial Police on several occasions, precisely over fuel. It is followed by the companies “Vjerdha,” “Adelba,” “M.R.J.,” “Grizhaj,” “Eri,” “Bledi,” “Sedan,” “Jaku,” “Preka,” “Luma,” “Blash,” “Gramshi,” “Hëllua,” “Koleci,” “Ringjallja 2,” “Algjek,” “Kelmendi,” “Alb Popaj Petrol” and “Vëllezërit Koka.” According to the Court of Cassation judges, the relevant documentation for each company must also be available for this request to be examined, setting out the grounds for all the actions that have now prompted the Financial Police to propose extreme measures. (e.l)

TIRANA - Albanians stood by them during one of the most difficult moments in their long history, and now a symbolic act will serve as a sign of gratitude for this help. The names of thirty Albanians who protected the lives of hundreds of Jews hunted by the Nazi killing machine have recently been sent from Tel Aviv’s largest museum—also known as the biggest center for studies on the Holocaust of the Jews during World War II—to the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, the enormous memorial building inaugurated last year. This is the second step taken by Israel’s office at this time, remembering several Albanian families through one of its highest-ranking representatives. All this, with names and lists, greetings and moving letters, might be entirely ordinary were we not now living through a period in which ancient hatred between peoples and races is being revived. Some even try to downplay the magnitude of those years. The extermination camps and gas chambers? “Just an invention by the Allies to tarnish the Reich’s reputation.” This refrain is being heard increasingly often in Europe. Not long ago, dictators were also mentioned in an Albanian youth auditorium, when tempers flared during a film about the Holocaust in Germany... among young Albanians, when, during the screening of a film about German history, the familiar portrait of Hitler suddenly appeared. To curb this wave of resurgent Nazism, to commemorate the millions of innocent victims, and also to nurture a spirit of sympathy and assistance among peoples—this will be the purpose of a ceremony taking place in Poland in the coming days. Today President Berisha is due to leave for the site, specifically Majdanek. Exactly 50 years ago, the hell that bore this name was liberated by the Allies. (fa.bax.)

YESTERDAY IN ALBANIA The Textile Combine in Berat is at the center of a financial scandal. The State Audit Service has uncovered losses of 138 million lekë at the institution, caused by irregularities in its operations. The first measures have been taken against the combine’s director, the former chairman, and the former head of the finance department, who have been referred for criminal prosecution. Stole: 3 years in prison A sentence of three years in prison has been handed down to Shaban Veizi, from Saranda. Accused of stealing private property, Veizi was found guilty by the court and sentenced to imprisonment. Kukës: District Council burgled Even the building of the Kukës District Council has not escaped the attention of wrongdoers. This time they broke into the building—considered a site of special importance—and robbed its club. The people responsible have not yet been identified by the police.

Testimony favors the prosecution TIRANA—The trial concerning the scandal and irregularities involving former MP Arben Lika and three other people, all accused of cigarette smuggling, appears to have begun to the defendants’ disadvantage. The first witnesses in the trial, people who had direct contact with all the procedures followed at the Kakavija customs post, through which the truckload of cigarettes passed, testified that the Albanian Youth Federation, headed by Lika, had no knowledge that humanitarian aid was arriving for it. The statements of the eight witnesses heard yesterday highlighted the case as the prosecutor read the indictment. The eight-page document sets out the entire story of the shipment to Albania, in the form of humanitarian aid, of 6,330 cartons of “ARDA” cigarettes. This is the affair that last October brought former MP Lika and six other people face to face with the charges; three of them have left and have still not been found. Lika at the trial (photo H. Pustina)

Prosecutor seeks one year in prison A new phenomenon targeting shopkeepers TIRANA - “Either the money, or one of the children.” ...

The prosecutor seeks one year in prison TIRANA—“Either the money, or one of your children.” This is perhaps the first time that such a demand—made of young Albanian parents—has ended up in a courtroom. Meanwhile, its protagonist is in a prison cell. The case against 18-year-old Elton Sadiku, heard yesterday at the Tirana Court, brought to light this unusual story, which nonetheless concerns a phenomenon that has now reached Albania too. And today the accused, Sadiku, awaits only the court’s sentence, because yesterday prosecutor Hamzai, in his closing arguments, asked that he be found guilty of “extortion for financial gain” and sentenced to one year in prison. As was stated during the trial, a few months ago young Sadiku had sent a letter to Kujtim Fetja, the owner of a shop in the capital. The letter demanded that, if he did not leave around 200 dollars in the stairwell of the building, one of his two young children would be harmed. In addition to this amount, the shop owner was also supposed to pay another sum, equivalent to 15,000 dollars. After the complaint was made, the story came to a head on the terrace, where young Sadiku had gone to collect the money. The money that could now send him to prison…

TIRANA—The widow Hoxha still has hopes in the Albanian judges. She sent them a letter—a confession and a page—written by her former lawyer, Bashkim, but once from one of the cells of the Institute for the Re-education of Convicts. Caught by the 325th Court, Tirana, Hoxha “seeks to benefit from, or lessen, the change in the legal classification of the criminal act,” for which she has been found guilty in three successive trials and sentenced to 11 years in prison. “I am the first to request a review of the legality of the grounds on which I was tried, of the high-level proceedings against us [unclear passage], sentenced by the Albanian court,” she says. “Gazeta Shqiptare” in Kasandër, where the latest judges appeared with Hoxha’s court papers in hand. According to officials of the Lu Section, the official at this court “does not appeal,” “does not appeal,” “does not appeal”… [part of the text is illegible] Nexhmije Hoxha in her cell Why, after all this has gone through a court, the possibility of accepting a final ruling is very small. “Nevertheless,” says Nexhmije Hoxha, “the court would have to be made to reconsider once again. If the court rules against me, while the request has to be submitted separately through the General Prosecutor’s Office, which examines the entire criminal case.” “I am powerless,” says the widow Hoxha, “perhaps because I trust that this court wants to believe it. And the day will come when it is believed.” And I would like the lawyer to… dozens… (Ed. La.)

ELBASAN—He was very close to the threshold of his home when he was hit by a powerful explosion. —He was very close to the threshold of his home when he was hit by a powerful explosion. Then came several gunshots… It happened on Sunday, in the early afternoon. 21-year-old G. Dorizëza was knocked to the ground by a bomb thrown at him. He was then seriously wounded by pistol bullets. He is now in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Elbasan Hospital, but the court [unclear] how serious the danger is. According to the doctors, his survival was a miracle of luck. The bomb caused extensive damage to the young man’s internal organs. Investigations began immediately, and shortly afterward the police announced: “The perpetrators of the attack have been identified and are wanted; they are a group of young men from [unclear] who had a grievance against A. Dorizëza.” Nevertheless, it is believed that this was not a dispute among young people, of which there have been many lately. (me.k.)

The minister was there TIRANA—The issue of the Filanto workers’ strike has now reached the highest levels of government as well. Yesterday afternoon, a meeting was held between representatives of the factory workers’ union—accompanied by Valer Xheka—and the ministers: the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Minister of Labour and Emigration, Deputy Prime Minister Dyjder Vrioni, and the Minister of Justice. The outcome of this meeting—which was also attended by our representatives at “Filanto” and took place in the morning at the Ministry of Industry and Trade—is not yet known, as it continued for a long time. The reason for the workers’ prolonged protest—the strike has been going on for six months—is the failure to implement an agreement signed between them and the Italian representatives. “According to it,” Fuat Karameta, the union chairman, tells Gazeta Shqiptare, “the workers’ employment and wages were covered. Since the second half of last year, the agreement has not been respected because the Italians have said that the company is in crisis.” There are now more than 1,000 workers who have not worked for months and want to know the factory’s true financial situation: “Since 1993, our company’s balance sheet has not been made available and has never been disclosed.”

Korçë, protest by 50 police officers KORÇË—The Korçë Police Station is being taken to court by its former employees. Fifty dismissed police officers are now complaining that they are not receiving the payments due to them under a Government decision, “On the treatment of the armed forces during the Reform.” At the first hearing, held on Monday, the Police Station’s representatives defended themselves by saying that there is an order from the Minister of Public Order that excludes them from this benefit, and arguing that the officers had been downsized rather than dismissed as part of the reform. The Police Station representative’s justification was rejected by the former officers, who insist that they were informed they were being dismissed because of the Reform, and that such a ministerial order cannot supersede a Government decision. In any case, they must wait for the next hearing, which will take place at the beginning of February. EL.Ko.

Special page Horoscope: Today’s forecast for AQUARIUS in ’95 TIRANA - Another day with the 1995 forecasts prepared by the star magicians. Today it is Aquarius’s turn, the penultimate sign of the horoscope, to which a newspaper page has been devoted. In the middle, at the end, it will be Pisces’s turn.