They were taking a boat trip on Lake Shkodra A storm that suddenly broke out on Monday afternoon capsized the boat. The fisherman also died along with the eight children. Only six managed to survive. From Shkodra, ARLINDA ÇAUSHOLLI. Shkodra is plunged into deep mourning. Eight children, aged 10 to 14, have died tragically. It was supposed to be an ordinary, joyful day for the eight, who had set out, dreaming of celebrating May 1, but it turned into a tragedy that will hardly fade from the city’s collective memory. Now all of Shkodra is anxiously waiting for the bodies of the young victims to be found. The frantic search continues, but by last night no news had reached the families overwhelmed by immeasurable grief. They had set out happily on Monday morning. A fisherman, a resident of the old neighborhood, Agim Medja, 45, himself a victim of the disaster along with one of his sons, had promised to take them for a ride on the lake in his boat. Word quickly spread among the boys’ “circle,” and they drew one another in. The group of 15 children, led by the fisherman, set off on their May 1 excursion. Then came the boat ride, which continued amid the boys’ carefree excitement as far as Zogaj, the village on the lakeshore. It was precisely on the return journey that the terrible incident occurred. No more than 300 meters from the place the people of Shkodra call “Bregui Rans,” a notorious spot because sudden storms occur there—the fishermen call them “the black wind”—the lake began to swell violently, until the boat capsized and the bodies of eight children sank lifeless to the bottom of the lake. Among the many victims were Agim, his twelve-year-old son, and a nephew of his wife. Five children survived by sheer chance, clinging tightly to the door of the overturned boat. It was 17:30. In Shkodra, the families were waiting for their children. The alarm was raised immediately after a fisherman passing by by chance witnessed the horrifying scene, and the boys’ families were left waiting anxiously. The search began at once, but it was too late. The survivors are still in shock. One of them, 14-year-old Admir Leka, told the Albanian Gazette, still not fully recovered from the horror he had been through: “Suddenly, the waves, which reached up to a meter and a half,” Admir recounts, “started filling the boat. Uncle Agim told us to start bailing the boat with bottles, but it was no use. Then we started scooping out the water with the engine cover, but just then the boat capsized and we all ended up in the water. At one point I saw Agim carrying five children on his back. The others who knew how to swim held hands. I didn’t see many of them swimming anymore; those were terrible moments.” Terrible moments.” Dritan Halli, 10. Agim Medja, 45. Article on page 2. Sabri Godo

The number one of the Albanian Republicans and one of the initiators of the right-wing bloc tells all about what is currently happening in the LDSH. He speaks about future allies and then clarifies his position: relations with Kalakulen and PDD. INTERVIEW Godo, leader of the PR, speaks “Article on page 2” Sabri Godo

For May 1 . TIRANA — “Capitalism is not the best solution.” This was the message of a speech delivered on the occasion of the great workers’ day, May 1, at a meeting of the Confederation of Albanian Trade Unions. The Confederation’s own chairman, Kastriot Muço, delivered the main speech in a hall where the presence of the “white heads” and large banners bearing big letters against a red background stood out. A few days earlier, this union had been denied permission to hold a protest march against the government, in the opposite direction from the demonstrations of the dictatorship era. Nevertheless, in measured words, Muço seems to have wanted to express his opposition to those who sing the praises of the current system. Is the working class returning to the attack against capitalism? Muço himself did not say which system he considered better, if capitalism is not one, but in any case, this is the first public criticism of the system by a representative of the Albanian working class since the country embarked on the path of reforms that are laboriously leading toward the system “that is not the best solution.” Muço preferred to cite figures in support of this idea, published at a recent meeting of the International Labour Organization held in Copenhagen. It was precisely here, at the peak of European prosperity, that—according to Muço—disturbing signs emerged regarding inequality and unemployment in the world today. Muço was very stern toward the Government, which has not met the demands also put forward by the unions he leads. A particular situation thus arose in the hall, combining criticism of the system with criticism of the government, the specific occasion—the celebration of May 1—and, why not, many general issues, which allowed the confederation members to organize the picnic they had planned and hold it in the hills of the Artificial Lake. Silent and thoughtful—that had been the instruction from Muço himself and the other heads of the Confederation—the workers left the hall where they had held the meeting. Many of them may still have the dilemma ringing in their ears: “Capitalism: good, bad, or the least bad option possible?” A dilemma that troubles millions of people around the world. fa.bax.

Arsidi trial: protest over prosecutor’s TV interview TIRANA — Yesterday’s hearing in the Arsidi trial began with sharp protests against prosecutor Qelesh. From the defendants’ bench, Hoti and Xhyheri—together with their lawyers—attacked the interview Qelesh[i] gave on television on Friday evening concerning the 1.6-million-dollar scandal. “For the prosecution to publish whatever it wants, in whatever unrestrained manner it wants, means that the prosecutor’s [?] interview is delivering a major blow to the Albanians,” Hoti declared in court yesterday. Xhyheri spoke in much the same terms, emphasizing that “the televised spectacle put on by the prosecutor is an act intended to prejudice the case in the court of public opinion and legally.” The point that prompted the sharp statements by Hoti and Xhyheri was mainly a passage in Qelesh’s interview, when he read out the information provided by the Luxembourg banker about his dealings with two senior officials of the Albanian banks. According to the two highly dishonest [?] men, Qelesh[i] had truncated the actual statements, and this, Hoti declared, saying he was ready for everything to be made public exactly as it had really been said, “does not serve the state and justice, but the anti-state and injustice.” Xhyheri also cast doubt on the Luxembourg banker’s statements concerning the 16,000 dollars he is accused over: “How is it possible for him to remember a conversation that took place a year ago, when a bank conducts hundreds of transactions with clients in a single day? Nevertheless,” Xhyheri added, “the document confirming the 16,000 dollars shows that this is a state-related matter, and I only gave the order for it to be transferred.” Qelesh[i] responded to the accusations in court by saying that he had said nothing beyond what he had read out in the courtroom. After the protests, the trial continued with the reading of the evidence. The text of a telephone conversation answered by Franku, in which Arsidi was connected with Hoti and Saliu’s family, was one of the elements that took up the most time, as the defense objected several times that, under Albanian legislation, it could not be admitted as evidence as an essential element.

From a chance suspicion TIRANA — Arben Karasani, the 22-year-old sentenced to seven years for murder, has ended up once again behind bars in Tirana prison. He was one of the protagonists of the great escape in January this year. Karasani was accidentally caught by a police patrol near the Novosela bridge on Sunday afternoon. He had just got out of a car—he was accompanied by another person, who managed to escape—and had set off on foot. The police post near the old Novosela bridge immediately became suspicious of him because of his shabby clothing. At first, he was suspected of being a prostitution trafficker, but identification led to the discovery that he was Karasani. Bedri Çoku, a senior official of the General Directorate of Prisons, confirmed the news to Gazeta Shqiptare, adding that the identification procedure for the arrested man from Shkodra, Astrit Pisha, has not yet been completed. ma.

A sailor LEZHË — The body of a fisherman from Vlora, which had been drifting at sea for nearly a month, was found on Saturday by a German ship patrolling the Adriatic to enforce the embargo. The victim has now been identified: his name was Adhurim Begaj, and his grieving family collected their loved one’s body from Lezhë. The body was found on the coast between Shëngjin and Velipojë. At 18:00 on Saturday, the German captain radioed the port authorities in Shëngjin about the discovery. Procedures for handing over and identifying the body then began. At the end, by [?] 3:00 on Sunday, the family managed to collect everything found on the fisherman’s body. The remains of the victim, found disfigured, were taken by helicopter to the Port of Vlora, and a [?] was needed.

TIRANA — “Thanks to Austria” was the theme running through President Sali Berisha’s welcoming remarks to his Austrian counterpart, Thomas Klestil, on the first visit to Albania by an Austrian head of state. Berisha and Klestil first met face to face and then discussed ways to increase cooperation between their two countries.

Berisha and Klestil yesterday in Tirana (photo: ATSH)

The city is in mourning. The search for the bodies of the little ones continues relentlessly.

Urum Menacaku, 14 years old Adriatik Sykaj, 14 Bledar Stankaj, 13 Rinor Cani, 13 Durim Medja, 10 Artan Kraja, 12 Saimir Hamzi, 14 Dritan Hallili, 10 Agim Medja, 45

From a chance suspicion INSIDE

“Tirana” queen. On page 3. Today UEFA is “Italian.” On page 3. Sports around the world. On page 4. Serbian shell over Zagreb. On page 3.