“We want it transferred to a facility with a higher level of security” Approval of this proposal would create Albania’s first modern “super-prison.” For the first time, there would also be a school to train staff for re-education institutions. Government proposal from the General Prison Administration EDMOND LAÇI TIRANA - The Great Escape could bring to an end the nearly 60-year history of Tirana Prison, also known by the code name 313. A sensational proposal put forward by officials of the General Prison Administration has called for the prison to be transferred. On the evening of 15 January ’95, 20 convicted prisoners escaped from its cells, many of them described as “dangerous.” If the proposal—which is already on the desks of President Berisha, Prime Minister Meksi, Speaker of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly Arbnoriti, and Justice Minister Frashëri—is approved, Albania will soon have its own “super-prison.” “If this proposal is implemented,” Bedri Çoku, an official of the General Prison Administration, told the Albanian Gazette, “above all, security will be extremely high, and it will be suited to preventing escapes, which—although rare—have also occurred in Albanian prisons.” But, according to Çoku, transferring Tirana Prison to the outskirts of the capital, to the building of the former School of Re-education, would offer a number of other advantages. The idea is for the new “super-prison” to completely replace the old prison system inherited from the dictatorship—built solely as concentration camps—and to make it possible, for the first time, to establish a prison of national importance in Albania. “It is intended to be a central prison,” Çoku continued, “and to meet all the requirements set out in the Helsinki Charter.” Its planned capacity of 1,000 to 1,200 would make it possible to bring together in the same facility part of the capital’s existing prison population, as well as that of Bardhor in Kavaja. The General Prison Administration says that the site where the “super-prison” is to be established would allow a new, more comfortable environment for inmates, with spaces for recreation, entertainment and education. There is also the possibility of setting up a Penitentiary School there, which would train the first Albanian specialists qualified specifically to work in prisons. “The European Community has also made such a request,” Çoku said. “Indeed, it has declared its readiness to send Albania its first qualified personnel, along with all the equipment and supplies for this school.” According to Çoku, since the EC has allocated around 4.2 million ECU—more than 5 million dollars—to Albania’s prison system, “it would be more worthwhile not to use these funds to repair several structures that are almost beyond repair, but to build a decent, modern prison that Albania still lacks.” All this, as well as the site’s highly strategic position for supervising inmates and preventing another escape, has made officials of the General Prison Administration very optimistic about the latest proposal being implemented. “So, rather than [unclear] very small [facilities]—since the Ministry of the Interior has not yet transferred this site to the Ministry of Justice—we could close a very deep wound in the Albanian prison system.” Albanians that Albanians must know, and stability should be served in this region. At Tuesday’s meeting near the border, they allowed the family of the injured man to visit their son. The site where Tirana Prison could be relocated (photo: H.Pustina)

Concluding discussions today TIRANA - The opposition will discuss the draft constitution again today. A version was prepared several days ago by a group of five legal experts from the PS, PSD, PAD and PDNJ; an independent lawyer also took part. The party representatives began discussing the draft on Monday. Dokle and Abdiu from the PS, Gjinushi and Milo from the PSD, Imami and Teta from the PAD, and Melo from the PDNJ accepted the version presented by the specialists and agreed together on more than half of the proposed text. Today they will continue consultations on the remaining part, to offer recommendations and highlight the specific issues that each party considers appropriate from its own standpoint. “It is a project based on compromise and mutual concessions,” Namik Dokle told the Albanian Gazette. “The constitution must belong to everyone.” It was precisely the lack of consensus among the political forces in parliament that led President Berisha to suggest that the deputies approve it by referendum. But the draft still failed to be approved. gj.p.

TIRANA - Macedonia and serious incidents involving Albanians were discussed yesterday in the Albanian Parliament. TIRANA - Macedonia and the serious incidents involving Albanians were discussed yesterday in the Albanian Parliament. Experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed members of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the dramatic events of the weekend just passed and on the state of relations between the two countries. The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee then made its position public. Insisting that the Albanian Government must not cease its efforts to promote stability in this republic, the committee nevertheless stressed that the Macedonian government must recognize all the rights Albanians are entitled to under international documents, including the right to be educated in their mother tongue. According to the Committee, stability in this important part of the heated Balkans cannot be envisaged without the Albanian factor and without granting the Albanians of Macedonia all the rights enshrined in the documents of the international organizations that Macedonia has long sought to join. The members of the Foreign Affairs Committee once again underscored the Government’s official position: resolving the rights of Albanians in Macedonia would serve stability throughout the region.

Experts meet at Kapshticë TIRANA - A recent flare-up in relations between Greece and Albania has been brought under control. A meeting of experts from the two countries, held on Tuesday at the Kapshticë border crossing, proved decisive. The Greeks acknowledged precisely this: “The incident was the fault of our serviceman,” an admission that will certainly help ease fears of a possible new deterioration between Tirana and Athens, particularly on the eve of the Greek foreign minister’s visit to Albania. The wounding of a young Albanian on Saturday in the Albanian territory strip and the threatening statements that had been issued had created considerable tension and, above all, risked further inflaming the situation surrounding the injured young man and his whereabouts. According to them, he is now being treated in the Greek hospital near Thessaloniki. The Greeks—who were very accommodating this time—then said they were willing to allow the injured man’s family to visit their son, accompanied by representatives of the Albanian police and the Greek army. “It is our responsibility,” the Greeks admitted, “but this act was a violation of the order given by the commander not to open fire on unarmed civilians. The action has been condemned, and those responsible for wounding the Albanian are under investigation.” There were also positive signs concerning the injured young man and his family. At the same meeting, the Greek experts gave the Albanian side details about the young man’s condition and whereabouts. According to them, he is now being treated at Papa-Nikolaoi Hospital in their son,

He spoke at a meeting in Rome TIRANA - If the Kosovo problem is not fully incorporated into the framework of the peace plan, no lasting and definitive agreement can be reached for the former Yugoslavia. This was the opinion expressed by Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi on the eighth day of his visit to Italy. “As for Kosovo, the CSCE is closer than [unclear],” Serreqi said with concern. “The people there feel abandoned, and in fact they are abandoned and neglected. For this reason, if Kosovo is not included in the peace plan, the conflict will not end. There will be no final solution.” The head of Albanian diplomacy made these remarks at a meeting on Albania organized in Rome by the Institute for Relations between Italy and the Countries of Africa, Latin America and the Mediterranean. [The following sentence is unclear in the source:] “A form of Italo-Macedonian chauvinism is still [unclear] with the region’s [unclear] and conditions the whole situation.” Italy’s ambassador to Albania, Paolo Foresti, also spoke at the meeting. He recalled Albania’s climate of democracy and noted that Albanian foreign policy today represents a point of stability in a turbulent geopolitical region. p.re.

Greece, they are from Saranda TIRANA - Four Albanians have fallen into the net of an operation by the Greek police special forces. Last night it was announced that four Albanian citizens had been caught in a Greek city while trying to sell marijuana; all four were from Saranda. Further information about the identities of the four drug dealers has not yet been announced. It seems the Albanians fell victim to an operation by the Greek police special forces, deployed in the fight against drug traffickers. Members of these forces approached the Albanians pretending they wanted to buy drugs, but then the handcuffs came out. The cannabis trade—the plant from which marijuana is extracted—has become very unprofitable in recent years. Many Albanian farmers have been stopped by the Albanian police while they had planted areas of their fields with this plant. In many cases it has been stated that the seed cultivated by farmers in Albania originated in Greece, and that the Greek market is precisely where this kind of produce is directed. The easily crossed border and the high demand in Greek illegal markets are thought to be factors behind this increase.

ELBASAN - It was his final run. Hundreds of metres chasing a bus and then... death. - It was his final run. Hundreds of metres chasing a bus and then... death. It happened in Belsh to 30-year-old Nazmi Kalari. He wanted to get home—it seems it was the last bus on the route that day—and ran to catch the bus as it disappeared from sight. After running for hundreds of metres, he managed to touch the vehicle, which was still moving, but a heart attack ended his life. The strange death had also aroused other suspicions, including suspicions on the part of the police, who assigned an investigative team to establish the cause of Kalari’s death. But the doctors’ statements confirmed what had been said at the outset: death resulted from a heart attack caused by exertion while running. Me.Ki.

DJENËSHQIPËRI For a week, the Varosh neighbourhood of Gjirokastër—one of the largest in this city—has been without water. The cause of this disruption, which has greatly concerned its residents, is a fault in a water-main pipe at the Water Supply Enterprise, which occurred during a [pishëm]. It was the Hygiene Centre that subsequently ordered the water to be cut off. But a week has passed and the fault has still not been repaired. Shkodër: Financial irregularities in the commune This time it is the Rrethina commune of Shkodër that is being “supervised” by the State Audit. Irregularities have been uncovered in financial documents relating to the receipt of funds and cash purchases for the commune’s material needs. In addition, the funds received for the construction of the Golem school were not used within the specified deadline. Meanwhile, the dismissal of the head of the commune, Gëzim Mordalli, and Teuta Perkelaj, head of the Economic Enterprise Office, has been requested.

In a parking lot TIRANA - A tragic death in the Albanian capital for a driver from Bulgaria. At midnight on 18 February—perhaps his vehicle was occupying a parking space near Lapraka—Rrangel Serpakov was burned alive inside his car. As of yesterday, his charred body was still in the Tirana morgue, awaiting repatriation, while Albanian investigators have also announced their version of the incident. A small stove used for cooking by Serpakov—initially, gas caused the 32-year-old driver to suffocate, while the smoke explosion later made matters worse—gave him no chance of escape and also caused the burning. Serpakov had arrived in Albania together with two other colleagues, carrying goods for an Albanian trading company. (Ed.La.)

After 11 days RROGOZHINË - The body of the 16-year-old who tried to defy death for the sake of a bet has finally been found. While teams of divers were searching inch by inch through the murky waters of the Shkumbin, Zeqir Xhafa’s body was discovered entirely by chance by a young man on the riverbank, only a few kilometres from his town. Eleven days had already passed since he disappeared into the river’s [kullët] waters. Zeqir’s grave has made an impression even in the small town. Zeqir’s tragic story had begun as a simple game among teenagers. Eleven days earlier, he had left home with a group of other young boys in the early morning. His daily task was [kul-lotja e lopës], until one day, while watching the strong current, a discussion began almost without anyone noticing. Zeqir, the oldest of the boys who were there, insisted: “I can make it to the other bank of the river.” Then the bet was made, and the boy slipped into the icy waters, but his [organizimi] could not withstand the strong current. His friends, remorseful but now completely helpless, raised the alarm, but it was already too late. The search lasted a full 242 hours. Teams of divers and other heavy equipment made available by the local authorities searched over many kilometres, until the storm also made attempts to rescue him alive impossible. Qe.Ca.

Two employees who tried to stop them are injured TIRANA - Another robbery in the capital. Almost a year after the first attack—around 1,500 dollars were taken last night—and a month after another attempt to raid the cash office, the alarm has sounded again at the INSIG branch in the capital. This time, masked and heavily armed robbers struck on Tuesday morning, at precisely 11:30, when, as every day, employees of this office were preparing to transport the money to the Savings Bank. The robbers injured employees with blunt objects, as well as the institution’s driver—the two people who tried to stop them—while the three cash-office employees were trapped inside the bank at gunpoint. The robbery was prompted by the telephone signal—perhaps made by the robbers—which gave INSIG employees no opportunity to notify the law-enforcement authorities immediately. Fear of this, as well as the presence of the 3rd Police Station, forced the robbers to cut their action short, taking from the cash office only an amount equivalent to around 1,500 dollars. The two injured employees—now in hospital—were compensated at the proposal of INSIG Director-General Qemal Dishaj, while the Director of the Tirana Branch, Mustafa Kërkuç, appealed: “The government must declare our branch an object of special importance.” (e.l) The robbers’ “target”

Greece, they are from Saranda Elbasan DJENËSHQIPËRI In the parking lot After 11 days Gjirokastër: The neighborhood for a week

Expired imports: embassies report violations Financial police consult foreign missions to prevent illegal trade Andrea Stefani on page 3

All the artists and their songs in order. Among tonight’s guests: Elton John, Amii Stewart, Cindy Lauper ... All the artists and their songs in order. Among tonight’s guests: Elton John, Amii Stewart, Cindy Lauper ... Photos and trivia on page 5