Reorganization in Justice: “Only the best should remain” After the lawyers, protests from the black robes TIRANA - After the lawyers, judges too will be put under the Ministry’s scrutiny. Almost the entire Albanian justice system will thus sit the examination bench and take a qualification test. The decision taken by the Ministry of Justice became known in recent days and immediately caused some shock among judges. Their reaction is much the same as that of the lawyers: “We are graduates and have been working for a long time; we see no reason why we should be tested.” The Ministry’s explanation, meanwhile, is simple: “This is provided for by law.” The news that judges too would be tested was first announced by Minister Frashëri himself during an assessment of the work following the inspection carried out at the Korçë court. It was later officially confirmed by his cabinet as well. “All judges will take this examination,” officials at the Ministry of Justice told Gazeta Shqiptare. “It will be a test of professional qualification and quality, because some studied by correspondence or through courses.” But this explanation does not seem to fully convince the judges, who feel threatened by another decision: “If quality really is what is being sought,” they protest, “why do they continue appointing to the courts judges who graduated after taking only six-month courses? At least we completed full university studies.” For now, however, the Ministry’s decision appears to be at an initial stage. Many things remain to be clarified. For example, it has not been fully determined at what levels of the court hierarchy this qualification test will apply. At the same time, it remains to be clarified what will happen to anyone who fails the test, since the appointment and dismissal of judges fall within the competence of the High Council of Justice. The qualification of judges is an issue that has long been circulating in the highest ranks of Albanian justice, and one that has prompted protests by lawyers. A two-year postgraduate school, with foreign specialists, has even been proposed for this purpose. Under this project, after completing their law studies, all graduates would also have to attend this new two-year course. In addition, existing judges would take turns attending the school. But while the Ministry is trying first to test judges’ qualifications, the wave of lawyers’ protests has not yet subsided. After appearing to die down following talks with Minister Frashëri, it has flared up again. Lawyers insist that the Ministry’s decision is unjust. At a recent meeting, they decided to take the matter to the Constitutional Court. “We will abide by the Court’s decision,” Maksim Haxhia, head of the Tirana Bar Association, told Gazeta Shqiptare. “If it does not rule in our favor, then we will ask for the examination to be postponed until the end of the year.” Armand Mero Tirana Courthouse

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DURRËS - The story of the Albanian ship “Korabi”, detained since last Sunday at the Italian port of Pescara and accompanied by reports of an alleged illegal radioactive-material cargo, is becoming increasingly mysterious and complicated. Yesterday the Italian police decided to impound the ship, while the captain, Kujari Hyen Curi, was accused of “trafficking radioactive material, endangering the population through exposure to radioactivity, and trading equipment automatically shut down at the moment of passage through the Strait of Messina.” The captain has been detained, and today the investigating authorities will decide whether to arrest or release him. The facts presented relate to the period February–March 1994, and Captain Curri told the prosecutor who questioned him that “at that time the ship was in the Albanian port and had been out of service for five months.” But, as we said, the story is shrouded in mystery. First: yesterday the port police searched the “Korabi” and found several “secret holds” that could have been used to conceal “suspicious goods”; the Italian investigators have added nothing further. The second mystery: on the ship’s starboard side there are sections that have been pulled away, along with the containers carrying firearms which, according to a report made to the newspaper by an Italian shipping agency, the “Korabi” had carried while passing through the Strait of Otranto alongside a military vessel monitoring compliance with the embargo against former Yugoslavia. The military vessel that fired at the “Korabi” did not, apparently, carry out an inspection. Captain Curri explained that the damage was caused in a collision that occurred months ago in the port of Durrës with the Albanian ship “Golem”. The third mystery: yesterday the ship’s commander disappeared. The other sailors are Yugoslav and Albanian citizens. According to the official account, the “Korabi” was in Pescara to load 900 tons of cement for the company “Dital” of Durrës. The ship “Korabi” impounded at the port of Pescara

In Strasbourg, Spahia: The first signals are positive TIRANA - The first positive signals have arrived from Strasbourg regarding Albania’s admission as a full member of the Council of Europe. This time, one of the most delicate points in the strategic plan of Albanian diplomacy has taken concrete form: the submission and distribution of the material prepared by the Council of Europe’s political rapporteurs on the political situation and human rights in Albania. A member of the permanent delegation of the parliamentary committee to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe announced from Strasbourg that the material drawn up by the political rapporteurs, the Council’s special envoys to Albania, Matei Guillaumet, had been presented to the members of the Council of Europe’s Political Committee. Spahia was assessed positively for this delegation’s report on the situation in Albania, while further steps are expected to bring the matter to discussion and then to a decision. So.Bal.

But the former banker’s illness postpones the trial TIRANA - From his bed in the prison hospital, Tartari—the former banker implicated in the 1.6-million-dollar scandal—has submitted his request: “Arsidi should be questioned.” Now that hopes of bringing the French negotiator to Tirana as a witness have faded, Tartari is proposing another way: “He should be questioned by letter rogatory,” a procedure recognized by both Albanian and French legislation. But Tartari’s request has remained unanswered. The matter, the presiding judge and the head of the panel have expressed themselves, and the trial has been postponed. The case against Tartari has once again come to a halt over “Arsidi.” Yesterday morning, shortly before the hearing began, he suffered an epileptic seizure that lasted six minutes and was accompanied—according to the statements of the trial panel, which was at the hospital—by vomiting and convulsions. Tartari then requested that the trial not continue in his absence and agreed to be admitted only for examinations by experts who are to complete the financial assessment. On the prosecution’s list of people to be called are Lazi Balliu, Luldom Shaze and Nelson Micka, as well as three others proposed by the defense: Everest Musta, Teodor Luduche and Vebi Spahiu, etc.

The ground is slipping: 50 homes threatened LEZHË - Fifty families in Lezhë are at risk of their homes collapsing. The landslide on which the buildings stand has caused extensive cracks in the walls. The causes of this phenomenon—which has appeared in the area below the city castle—are underground water sources running beneath the land. Frequent heavy rains are making the situation even worse. The day before yesterday, the mayor of Lezhë and a team of engineers met with Prime Minister Shehi about the problem. Additional measures were requested to collect the water so that the phenomenon could be resolved once and for all. The landslide in this area of Lezhë is not happening for the first time. In the last month of 1994 alone, it occurred three or four times.

Arrested after 3 years on the run SHKODËR - He has been detained after spending three years on the run. - He has been detained after spending three years on the run. Not far from his home in Shkodër, police caught Lulzim Syllja, 27, who had been sentenced to 11 years in prison and escaped from the cell at this city’s police station in 1991. Syllja—who is said to have been in central Italy—was detained while driving toward the city center.

Gjinushi: “We will come second in the elections” TIRANA - “In the new parliamentary elections we will be a leading political force; in fact, there are constituencies where we have already overtaken both the DP and the SP.” This emphatic statement was made by Social Democrat leader S. Skënder Gjinushi, speaking again on the fourth anniversary of his party, an occasion for which the PSD organized “special ceremonies.” According to him, “the social-democratic ideal has deep roots in Albania, and the names of the people who uphold this ideal are well known. I told Arbnori that either they had sentenced me without cause or they would come and add to my sentence as a joke. As for relations between the PSD and the SP, Gjinushi said that their differences are structural and ideological.” They have always opposed us, he says, because they did not vote for laws of this kind that would help improve the human-rights situation. But regarding the return of the money, this does not seem to have been handled constructively by the DP; relations with the SP have become a choice between one side or the other, either the DP or the SP. We will look at things realistically and understand our differences with the SP; these are not ideological differences of this kind,” he said. “Nevertheless, despite the months of ... with the SP, we are an important factor in the upcoming political elections”—even as he discussed the DP and the SP, Gjinushi pointed out that the differences between them are structural and ideological.

Pretended to be Greek and deceived a girl ELBASAN - He tricked people in order to get a girl, enlisting the help of his friends. Sarandjoti A.T. had introduced himself as a Greek and said he wanted to marry an Albanian girl; he was in trouble at Elbasan’s “Skamper” on Monday evening. Meanwhile, Ardian Bushalla, 23, who had allegedly deceived a girl, ended up in police custody. The Greek story seems to end there. Elbasan is full of Greeks. Accompanied by two other young men—posing as workers at his factories in Greece—A.T. was looking for a girl he wanted to marry. “I want an Albanian girl, because of all the things that happened to me—I told them all about my past—and my father left me a dying wish to take an Albanian girl as my wife.” Thus, after a few days, they recommended a young woman to him. She was also from the Elbasan district and had been the victim of an elaborate deception, known in the area where she lives under Ardian’s first and last name; she had taken on a false identity and had been flirting with him in secret... But the peaceful requests in town, as soon as the neighbors understood what was going on, led to the matter being reported. During the day on Monday, April 23...

■ Disobedient EU? On page 3 ■ Albania heading toward Mecca On page 5 ■ Tirana, new hospital begins On page 5 ■ The capital of mime On page 3 ■ The Metallurgical Plant privatized On page 3