From now on, the party’s new emblem is the symbol The SP changes its emblem A rose instead of a poppy The Socialists: “This brings us closer to the European left” TIRANE - “Goodbye to the poppy on the party emblem.” The flower that had adorned the Socialists’ symbol since June 1991 has been removed from the circle of their emblem. In its place now stands a rose, almost identical to those used in many European countries and by Europe’s social-democratic parties. The hand holding the flower has also changed; it is now softer than the previous one and farther removed from the Communists’ stylized fist. The first propaganda materials bearing the new emblem, printed abroad, have now begun to be distributed to party members and organizational structures. Among the new items, besides the emblem, are the new leaflets that will be distributed to some SP members on the occasion of the election campaign to be held in May–June, also printed abroad. In this way, the Socialists are trying to move closer, even symbolically, to the European parties whose programs they feel closer to; meanwhile, the upcoming parliamentary election campaign is taking on a different fragrance—that of the rose. The decision to change the party emblem was made by its leading bodies in February of this year. After preparations and studies of this kind, the final version of the emblem was eventually reached: the hand gripping the new flower against a colored background was sent to the printing press to be included on party materials, which arrived only recently. The new version of the emblem will soon be seen not only on party propaganda materials, but also on its ordinary documents. In recent days alone, statutes have been distributed to the leadership of the nearly 300 SP organizations; their covers bear precisely the new emblem. In the SP, the decision to change the emblem is not linked to any possible change in its policies. “It is merely a change of symbols intended to bring the party closer to its European counterparts,” the party’s central office told Gazeta Shqiptare. The old emblem has thus been removed from the political scene, having been a protagonist, at times faded, in the political battles among Albanian parties in recent years. Let us hope that the new flower on the SP emblem will be a good omen for all Albanians. Fatos Baxhaku Today: party activists The DP issues new directives for the election campaign On page 3 The SP headquarters with the old emblem

Yesterday’s Court of Cassation ruling Hoxha’s widow remains in prison Her request for another trial is rejected TIRANE - The widow Hoxha’s latest attempt to be allowed to go home before completing her sentence has failed. Yesterday, the Court of Cassation confirmed to Gazeta Shqiptare that the widow’s request for another judicial proceeding—to protect legality—had not been approved. Thus, for approximately another 40 months, the remaining time on her sentence, the widow Hoxha will have to live at the Institute for the Rehabilitation of Convicted Persons, Women’s Unit 325 in Tirana. After being sentenced by three courts to 11 years in prison, and after one third of her sentence had been remitted by President Berisha’s major decree of November ’94, the widow Hoxha had written a letter to the Legality Protection Secretariat at the Court of Cassation. Regarding those three pages, handwritten by her lawyer Beshiri, the Court of Cassation had said that it was “the first request for protection of legality from among all former regime officials previously sentenced by Albanian courts.” Nevertheless, for nearly four months—since January 20, when the widow’s letter had arrived at the Secretariat of the Court of Cassation—her case had once again had to be taken out of the drawers to be reviewed by Albania’s senior judges. However, this time the proceedings had passed beyond the final ruling, which had already gone through three courts: Tirana, the Court of Appeal, and the Court of Cassation. This finally extinguished the widow’s hopes of being declared innocent, or at least of having “the legal classification of the criminal act reconsidered,” as she had requested in her letter. Nevertheless, what the judges did not do while widow Hoxha was waiting for another trial was done on March 20, ’95, when a decree by President Berisha remitted two years of the remaining sentence for 39 people, including widow Hoxha. Edmond Laçi

Italian investigators suspect the presence of a refinery “Heroin production in Albania” A kilo of drugs sent from Vlora A newly arrived Albanian is arrested in Puglia with a cargo of “white powder” TIRANA - “We suspect that a refinery has recently been set up in Albania to process raw heroin arriving from Turkey.” Cataldo Motta, the anti-mafia prosecutor in Lecce, has sounded the alarm following an anti-drug operation carried out yesterday morning: a kilo of heroin was sent from Vlora and unloaded on the Apulian coast. The police, who had received information about drug trafficking between Albania and Italy, located the speedboat that had anchored at Torre Chianca beach (Lecce). An Albanian got off the boat, while his accomplice set off again. The Albanian was followed discreetly, and the police saw him meet an Italian, Salvatore Primavera, 43, of Sicilian origin. The two, aboard a Lancia Thema, went to Lecce, and inside a service station handed a package to an Italian surveyor, Lucio Dell’Anna. At that point the trap was sprung: the Albanian, who said his name was Gëzim Hoxha, 34, from Vlora, and Primavera admitted that they had one kilogram of heroin to sell to Dell’Anna. All three ended up in prison, charged with importing and trafficking narcotic substances. Italian investigators established that Hoxha and Primavera had been paid around 60,000 German marks for the drugs, but that the retail price could reach 800,000 marks. “We suspect,” prosecutor Cataldo Motta told Gazeta Shqiptare, “that a heroin refinery has existed in Albania for some time, where raw drugs arriving from Turkey are processed. We know that the Turks sell processed drugs.” Traffickers’ speedboat on the beach at Vlora This is the second time that foreign police authorities have reported the existence of a heroin refinery on Albanian territory. The first was about a year ago, when, during a Europe-wide anti-drug investigation, a mobile refinery on the border between Albania and Macedonia was reported. With yesterday’s operations, this is the first time that the export of a large quantity of heroin between Albania and Italy has been uncovered. It is a phenomenon often hypothesized, but until yesterday unsubstantiated. Some time ago, following Gazeta Shqiptare’s report on drug trafficking from Albania, a former police informant said: “Heroin for Italy leaves from Vlora,” he told us in an interview. “The speedboats load it at Karaburun and easily transport it to the Apulian coast.” The former police informant (who, a few days after the interview, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt) added that the heroin was made into blocks in Turkey and reached Tirana on scheduled buses. About two months ago, a Turkish citizen was arrested in Tirana with three kilograms of heroin. At the time, it was also said that the drugs had traveled through Albanian territory, but it was not discovered where they had been refined. And it was precisely the Italian police who arrested a Turkish boss, Ismail Budka, considered a key associate in the clandestine-immigrant trafficking route from Albania to Italy (see page 2). Budka is suspected of being an important figure in the Turkish mafia. So it seems that links exist between heroin production and export and the trafficking of clandestine immigrants.

Yesterday the prosecutor read out his closing argument. Verdict today TIRANË - They had helped the prisoners escape through their negligence, and now risk being sentenced to a total of 34 years in prison. This was the punishment sought yesterday by the military prosecutor, in his closing argument before the Tirana Court, for the 13 guards who were on duty at Unit 313 in Tirana on the night of January 15. The sentences sought for the guards ranged from 1 to 5 years. The harshest—4 to 5 years—were sought for five of them: the guards who that night were posted on the first and second floors, as well as on the canteen terrace, from which the escapees passed. Only 3 years were sought for Halit Aga, because of his health and remorseful attitude; that day he had been the officer on 24-hour guard duty. For four guards, the prosecutor proposed a sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment, while only one was sentenced to ... There is still hope for all 13 prison guards. The final verdict will be delivered today. A scene from the trial of the prison guards

The day of the verdict TIRANË - Today is Arben Lika’s last hope. After the defense presented a week ago, the former DP deputy and the three other people who stood with him in the dock on smuggling charges will await the court’s final ruling. For Lika and Shenaj, the prosecutor handling the case had sought 10 years’ imprisonment in his closing argument. The defense lawyers asked the trial panel to also take into account the fact that the offenses of which their clients are accused will, under the Code of Criminal Procedure, come into force in a few years—and provide for a significant reduction.

Last night in Parliament TIRANA — The debate between the country’s two largest parties over the events in Tropoja has also reached Parliament. Last night the socialists read a strongly worded statement, reiterating their view that the incident involving the group of socialist MPs travelling to Tropoja had been instigated and carried out by forces from the PD. Insisting that such acts be condemned, Musa Ulqini, PS Chair for Tirana, who read the statement on behalf of the PS group, called for the preservation of the social peace necessary for normal political life to develop. The PD responded last night, with Azem Hajdari speaking on behalf of its parliamentary group. In Hajdari’s view, the events in Tropoja are in no way connected with the PD or its people, and PS’s latest statements are nothing more than a political game.

Following the arrest TIRANA — “Amnesty International” is looking into the arrest of Enver Hoxha’s son. Yesterday, copies of the article from the newspaper “Modeste”, which published Ilir Hoxha’s interview that led to his arrest, arrived at the organization’s headquarters in London. “Amnesty” representatives themselves did not wish to offer any kind of judgment on the case. “Let us first study what it says, and then we can express our opinion,” one of the activists told the newspaper yesterday.

A slanted reality GJIROKASTËR — “They’ve had their fill of absences; I’ll cut their salary.” This sentence was uttered yesterday in Gjirokastër at an important meeting. It was no ordinary enterprise meeting. It was the Mayor himself, Bashkim Fino, who, angered by the repeated absences of some members of the Municipal Council, decided to appeal to the parties to send the councillors they had appointed to meetings, and also to take the first step towards action: suspending the pay the councillors are entitled to for their work on the Council. Yesterday, 8 of the 17 councillors were absent from the meeting; it was postponed, and the budget received from the Government could not be discussed. The rules require two-thirds of the councillors to vote for its approval. According to sources at the Municipality, all eight were “habitual absentees”; this also prompted Fino to decide to take the appropriate measures. Perhaps after this the councillors who have been missing meetings will turn up to vote, and the parties that nominated them for the post will also be compelled to “change course.” Raimond Kola Gjirokastra

GAZETA SHQIPTARE Tregj On page 5

Abortion law The elderly are against it TIRANË - People over the age of 55 are against the legalization of abortion, while everyone else is in favor. This figure—according to a survey conducted by the “Refleksion” association among 450 people of different ages and beliefs—was presented yesterday during a discussion held with representatives of 15 Albanian women’s organizations. Organized by the Women’s Center, the meeting at the business center focused on the “Law on Abortion,” drafted a few weeks ago by the Ministry of Health. The issue of abortion has thus also come to the officials’ table. “The law is necessary, but its practical implementation must also be considered in the context of the current mentality in Albania,” was emphasized at yesterday’s meeting. The participants viewed the drafting of this law as a spur to Albanian society’s progress toward emancipation. However, support and various criticisms were also voiced. Referring to the current Albanian context in which this law will operate, the women stressed that it should be drafted in a way that takes account of what is closest to the Albanian mentality. In support of these observations, many figures were presented concerning the use of contraceptives as one of the main ways to prevent abortion. Thus, we noted that during the first six months of ’94 only 2.42 percent of women knew about contraceptives. Meanwhile, the figure differs from one city to another: while in Lezhë the use of preventive methods is around 13.7 percent, in Pukë 80 percent of women have no knowledge at all of contraceptives.

Tomorrow: KSSH strike On page 3 A law on shares On page 3 Wounds 3; arrested On page 3 Three infants burned On page 3 Bank director dismissed On page 3