CARLO BOLLINO TIRANË - The order of this kind issued by the Mayor of Tiranë, Sali Kelmendi, deciding to tighten the system for distributing the press in the capital, has stirred up a storm. The political world is arguing; it is certainly seething, and instead of reasons for calm being offered, the facts have ignited new centers of controversy. And so now the press, too, has returned to protesting. Everyone protests, everyone denounces abuses, one attacks another, and people—deceived and confused—want to understand. This time the problem is particularly serious, not only because it is directly connected to us, who provide information, but because it risks striking the very heart of the information media. We want to explain this problem as calmly as possible, because we are sure that those in power will know how to listen to us this time. Here is a summary of the problem. The sale of newspapers was one of the forms of free enterprise that emerged in post-dictatorship Albania. Today’s democracy itself was born and built on a free press. Freedom means, of course, not only being able to write freely, but also being able to sell freely, regardless of what you write, what you highlight, or what people think—and therefore whether they buy it or not. Today, by contrast, we risk going back in time, to when newspaper sales were done precisely this way: in the hands of the State. At present, in Tiranë, newspapers are sold by 47 private vendors, who go around to all the editorial offices or private distribution agencies early in the morning, collect copies, and distribute them to the market. From 1 June, according to Mayor Kelmendi’s decision, this will be prohibited; all the current vendors’ licenses will be revoked by the Municipality, and selling newspapers in bookshops is logically inexplicable. But where will the 7,000 copies that almost every newspaper in Tiranë has printed until now go? They will be thrown in the trash. A devastating and irreparable moral and economic loss. The consequence is certain: we newspapers will close, and we believe someone must want that. There is something even more serious. Mayor Kelmendi has also decided that, from 1 June onward, newspaper distribution may not be carried out freely by the newspapers’ editorial offices, but will be entrusted exclusively to the state books agency. Thus, an activity that constitutes the heart of freedom of information will pass into the hands of the State. It is being nationalized while everything else is being privatized. The press economy is being centralized at a time when the market economy is flourishing throughout the country. We believe this is an extremely serious decision, because there is a deep contradiction between the Press Law—which says that newspapers are not subject to any license—and this decision, which, on the contrary, imposes a license for selling them. This order imposes control over a product which, by law (and the law carries greater weight... [?]). There is another contradiction between this decision—which determines where and how newspapers should be sold—and the Law on Human Rights and Freedoms, inspired by the President himself, which guarantees that the press must be completely free, without any kind of restriction. The Municipality justifies its order by the need to eliminate the unsightly scene of vendors selling while seated on the street, with stones on their bundles of newspapers: an extremely unpleasant sight, but the solution adopted is... who, early in the morning, reorganize the entire editorial office of the private distribution agency—they collect the copies and take them to market. From June 1, according to the decision of Mayor Kelmendi, this will be prohibited; all current sales licenses will be revoked by the Municipality, and newspapers will be sold through state-owned bookstores. There are 14 such bookstores in the capital, plus 11 kiosks that sell works of literature and three shops that sell schoolbooks. From now on, newspapers will be sold only there. But how are people—that is, readers—to find out where the bookstores are? And where does freedom of the market end? What will become of private vendors? The Mayor’s directive answers: “They must apply for another license and have a card issued by the Municipality, and they may sell only on the streets that we designate.” This might be a solution, but now, just four days before the decision takes effect, the Municipality has still not decided where to buy the equipment for the vendors, nor does it yet know how many are needed or what type they will be. In other words, it is all talk. From June 1, if the Mayor does not withdraw his decision, as readers hope, newspapers will disappear from Tirana. The bookstores have already announced that they will take only 30–40 copies of each newspaper, and even these may remain unsold, because one should remember that the President himself has declared of restriction. The Municipality justifies its directive by the need to eliminate the unsightly sight of vendors sitting on the street with stones weighing down their bundles of newspapers: a very reasonable principle, but the solution adopted is ill-timed. Private vendors need to be given the necessary impetus to organize themselves and buy kiosks or the carts proposed by the Municipality. You cannot announce a revolutionary directive and expect it to be implemented within seven days. Here is the danger: what begins as an urban-planning issue could spill over into the very delicate territory of economic censorship. Freedom of the press is worth more, much more, than the aesthetic damage caused by a vendor sitting on the ground. Rules matter, but trying to control the distribution and sale of newspapers—a constitutional right—is not easy. Democracy is a principle on which the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, has based the country’s entire rebirth, and thanks to which foreign institutions continue to come to Albania. We are sure that the latest decision—concerning the most important city in the country—must not be allowed to overshadow the entire policy based on respect for freedom.

Editorial offices threaten a strike after the decision on distribution in Tiranë Tension between journalists and Police units Municipality intervenes: “It was a mistake” TIRANË - The storm forecast in the Albanian press world was delayed by only one day. Yesterday, right at the heart of information, where the country’s largest newspapers are published, in Tiranë, the first incidents of tension involving several newspapers and Police units were recorded. Just one day earlier, an order by the Mayor of Tiranë, Sali Kelmendi, had been made public, providing for the nationalization and placing under control of the press distribution system in the capital. Piles of newspapers at several locations were blocked for a few hours. Fortunately, everything was quickly clarified and the newspapers were returned to their readers. On page 3

INTERVIEW One day after the denunciation Çela replies to PS “The lawsuit is political hatred” TIRANË - He learned through the press that PS had reported him for criminal prosecution. And he reacts, asserting the opposite of what had been said about him the previous day. Yesterday the Chairman of the State Audit Service, Blerim Çela, once again displayed documents which—according to him—confirm that the sum of 400 thousand dollars, taken from the solidarity fund of the former Central Committee of the PPSH, also came from the state budget and belongs solely to it. “The complaint against me by prosecutor Qeleshejekti Kau—he says to Gazeta Shqiptare—shows, first and foremost, the political hatred that continues to be in the genes of the communists.” On page 3

SHKODËR - A crazy car race in the middle of the city has cut short the life of a person in Shkodër. Shkodër Street car race: one person dies at the scene TIRANË - A crazy car race in the middle of the city has cut short the life of a person in Shkodër. In Elbasan, meanwhile, a driver’s dizzying speed led to the death of an elderly woman, a 72-year-old who had just stepped outside her home. In Shkodër, the tragic event sent a shudder through the whole city. Hamza Bardhi, 39—owner of a bar in the Xhabiraj neighborhood—fell victim to the mad game of two young men. Two cars, one of them a Mercedes, were travelling at dizzying speed along Shkodër’s main road. Caught up in an incomprehensible game, at around 23.30 they were driving side by side, competing to see who would win. It was at that very moment that Bardhi was crossing the road. The Mercedes could not brake and struck him with tremendous force, causing his immediate death. At the same time, the other car taking part in the speed race collided with the Mercedes. The two drivers have now ended up at the police station, along with the impounded cars. A similar tragedy also occurred in Elbasan. A car’s speed claimed the life of 72-year-old Vasilika Nosti in the Shën Koll neighborhood. The elderly woman opened the door of her home and a car travelling at dizzying speed swept her into her death. The accident happened on Thursday at midday. But while leaving home proved fatal for the elderly woman, the driver of the car that struck her was swiftly taken to the police detention room. These two events are no longer anything new in Albanian crime reports. Meanwhile, the frequency of accidents is becoming deeply alarming to everyone. Cars have thus turned into killers. Collisions and accidents, seemingly daily occurrences, have become a deadly epidemic that is now causing ever more victims than illnesses or armed killings.

On page 3

New strategies used by clandestine migrants to realize the Western dream The Vlora police uncover the phenomenon after the arrest of 32 Asians

VLORE — New strategies used by Kurds to enter Albania. After forging visas issued by the Albanian Embassy in Ankara, the Asians have also managed to forge the entry visa issued at Rinas Airport. Yesterday, this was the conclusion reached by specialists from the traffic and anti-narcotics section of the Vlora Police Station after 32 Kurds were arrested on Thursday evening, hiding in a house on the seafront. Carrying Turkish passports, now in police custody, all 32 Kurds appear to have entered Albania after April 20, with a stamp placed by Ankara Airport.

. Miho leaves for Macedonia to coach a club. On page 5

GJIROKASTER — The story of the four people detained for “anti-constitutional activity,” who were also suspected of trying to establish a legal Communist Party, came to an end the day before yesterday. The two 17-year-old boys from Valare, 6 kilometers from Gjirokastër—had undertaken an attempt by villagers involving a photograph of Enver Hoxha—and the two main protagonists in the case, Laver Stroka and Fitim Çaushi, left their cells at around 15:30 on Thursday. In the end, after several days of investigations, the Prosecutor’s Office closed their file. On page 5

Librazhd, Municipal action against stray animals LIBRAZHD — Whoever harms children dies. This is not a line from a dramatic action movie. Although the characters in this incident turned out to be unusual, this time those who attacked the little ones were not child kidnappers or conventional abductors. Surprisingly, they were stray dogs, the kind that live in large numbers on the streets of our cities. At midday on Wednesday, a group of kindergarten children were out walking in the center of Librazhd. As they were walking peacefully in their groups, they were suddenly attacked by a pack of around 30 stray dogs. Fortunately, the animals displayed their ferocity in a playful manner, without seriously injuring the children. They quickly left, accompanied by their caretakers. Meanwhile, the town’s Mayor and the Head of Public Order happened to be walking nearby together. Both were stunned by the danger the little ones had faced and by the animals’ unchecked freedom. Although everything happened without a tragedy, the two state officials insisted that they had ordered these animals to be exterminated as soon as possible, as a danger to the citizens. Indeed, they carried out the order: their guns briefly disturbed the quiet of the night and laid 29 dogs on the ground. The next day, before dawn had even broken, the street cleaners gathered up and removed the animals’ bodies. A cleanup operation that could be carried out every day to rid a city of stray dogs.

President Berisha

TIRANA – “It is not for Parliament to decide on the matter of the two Court of Cassation judges.”

Berisha’s idea Court of Cassation? “Let the Constitutional Court decide” President Berisha TIRANA – “It is not for Parliament to decide on the matter of the two Court of Cassation judges.” It was President Sali Berisha himself who spoke yesterday, for the first time officially, on the matter of the two judges and the request by the PD parliamentary group for their removal. This is the first time that, in the heated debate concerning the two, the highest-ranking official, the head of state himself, has spoken.

20 23 27 30 On page 7