QeleshI: "He used part of the foreign currency for paper" The “ZP” case is now striking at the heart of the socialists’ newspaper. Since 3:30 p.m. yesterday, the editor-in-chief of the “ZP” newspaper has been unable to leave the capital without first obtaining permission from the investigators. Yesterday at midday, journalist Thoma Gëllçi was charged by the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office with “abuse of office.” “ZP editor-in-chief Thoma Gëllçi,” Tirana Prosecutor Arben Qeleshi told the Albanian Gazette, “signed a letter of credit to withdraw from the foreign-currency current account at a Bulgarian bank a sum of 76,500 dollars. According to the documents in our possession, this disbursed sum was used to buy 200 tons of paper for the newspaper.” Edmond Laçi on page 5 The Zëri i Popullit building and Thoma Gëllçi leaving the Prosecutor’s Office yesterday

The new measure adopted yesterday may benefit 2,500 workers Government Miners ready for retirement The measure adopted yesterday may benefit 2,500 workers On page 5

Yesterday the law on "Public Works" was approved TIRANA - From now on, the unemployed and those receiving assistance will be able to work. The local authorities will offer them various kinds of work, according to their needs and available funds. Those who refuse this work will have their assistance cut off. Thus, Parliament also approved the much-debated draft law on “Public Works.” Gjergj Pilika on page 3

Arbnori says

A new wave of prison releases after 1 June TIRANA - Lighter sentences for some, prisoners who will benefit from sentence reductions or be released altogether, sentences that must be reclassified, young people convicted of criminal offenses who will be fortunate on 1 June—the date on which the new Penal Code will enter into force—laws that are causing concern in the

Arbnori after the request to remove 2 members The Court of Cassation under scrutiny "We will assess them all" TIRANA - The issue of the two members of the Court of Cassation, whose removal from the PD parliamentary group has been requested, will also be examined further. Yesterday morning, Pjetër Arbnori himself put forward another idea: he will con-

TIRANA - Lighter sentences for some, prisoners who benefit from sentence reductions or are released altogether, sentences that need to be reclassified, young people convicted of misdemeanors who will be lucky on June 1—the force—laws repealed on the same date: all this “storm” will sweep through the Albanian justice system in just a few days. Perhaps soon we will also have occasion to talk about lower sentences for “famous” prisoners. One of those who may benefit could be Fatos Nano himself. A draft law that will soon be approved by Parliament will set out all the details and concessions that convicts in various categories will receive. Today, panorama of the castle On page 3

TIRANA - The matter go even further. Yesterday morning it was Pjetër Arbnori himself who put forward another idea: the documentation of all members of the Court of Cassation will be checked, in a response that came as something of a surprise. “Perhaps other members also have such gaps in their documentation on file—so we will carry out checks”; that was the substance of Arbnori’s statement. On page 3

Albanian child killed by a madman in Greece while he was going to buy ice cream GJIROKASTËR - “Albanian tragedies” have once again filled the Greek media’s news reports. The protagonists of two bitter stories were two Albanian refugees, a 20-year-old and a 5-year-old. While the first died trying to escape the Greek police, who wanted to send him back to Albania, the poor little boy died for a completely absurd reason: he was brutally struck by an unstable Greek as he went to buy ice cream at a small shop near the house where he lived. Albanians and Greeks accompanied him to the cemetery dressed entirely in white. The two tragic events have caused deep sorrow, not only among Albanian emigrants in Greece. His name was Ahmet Ismet Rexha, the 20-year-old who drowned in the river. He had been working for some time in a village in the Prefecture of Kardhitsa. The local villagers had not said a bad word about him or the two other Albanians working in the village. But one day a police patrol arrived in the village. Ismet sensed them closing in on him, and, to avoid being sent back to Albania, ran toward a small river that flowed nearby and plunged violently into the water. The Greek villagers found him later, several hundred metres away. His body was already lifeless. Even more harrowing is the tragic story of Taulant Puçi, a 5-year-old from Frashtan in Gjirokastër, who lived with his family in a unit in the village of Frashtan. These days, on Monday, he was completely happy amid a comfortable life provided by his parents’ work, but a Greek man, newly released from a psychiatric hospital, grabbed the child and beat him mercilessly. The moving funeral was held yesterday. r.k/u.b.

Football Yesterday, the Second Division final Kruja back in the First Division They beat the Korçë team on penalties TIRANA - Kastrioti of Kruja is back in the First Division. Yesterday afternoon at Qemal Stafa, the Kruja side beat Skënderbeu of Korçë. The 120 minutes of play ended goalless. Then Kruja goalkeeper Lekaj saved three penalties from the Korçë players, while the latter scored only two. It was a match in which both teams had many chances. At the start of the match—which was somewhat tense, with referee ZyIfo showing three yellow cards—the Korçë side threatened, and their scorer Xhediku also hit the post. In the second half the Kruja players were calmer, and Sinan Bardhi, a former Tirana player, also had a chance. Kastrioti was fresher in extra time as well. And more accurate in the penalty shootout. Jani Kaçi’s team, coached by the former celebrated national-team goalkeeper, had to return to Korçë without achieving its objective. Kastrioti has thus returned to the First Division after three years. The team was trained and managed by Robert Jashari, the former celebrated Partizani footballer of the 1960s, and was the team sponsored in Dyten. Meanwhile, in Kruja, the anxiety of following the match minutes on the radio turned into a genuine celebration. Car horns began blaring, and people came out to welcome the three Kruja friends who, in dozens of cars, had accompanied the team to the capital. A celebration that lasted late into the night.

"We want higher salaries" and 60 resign

TIRANA - Even the new passports have not managed to escape the black market. The new document—different from those currently in use—which allows Albanians to travel abroad has become cash? within just a short time, an object of trade and profit only a few days after being put into use. Among the crowd of currency exchangers who stand in central Tirana, near the State Bank, you can now also find the blue passports: all you need to do is provide the details and a photograph, and within a week you can be equipped with the new document, but only after paying 25 thousand lekë. An extremely expensive service—if it costs 1 thousand lekë—but nevertheless faster than the service offered by bureaucracy. While the new passports have very quickly given rise to a black market, the forging of certificates needed to obtain them continues. In Cerrik, two people have been arrested, while investigations have meanwhile begun into two others. B. Plaku and B. Xhelili were caught by police presenting certificates with false names: the aim was to charge them with “forgery of official documents.” The investigation has also been extended to Katerina Ruçi, the clerk who had issued the certificates only stamped and uncompleted. Ruçi has been held criminally liable for “abuse of office.” In addition, the investigation has included another person who had done something else: filled in the blank document with whatever the holder wanted. R. L./me.ki

Skënder Buçpapaj On page 3

Albania asks for USD 400 million for infrastructure On page 2 ♓ Elbasan Pay rise: teachers on strike against the Union On page 5