TIRANA - Albania is entering Europe, but Albanian newspapers have been left outside. In recent days, politicians have shown the people what it means to be part of European democracy: respect, handshakes, political struggle, even fierce struggle, but at the same time, education. Meanwhile, in journalism we continue to use newspapers by mixing information with mediocrity. This is an accusation without names, but also without exceptions: we are the first to publish headlines across entire columns about quarrels inside the Palace of Power, neglecting to report on the horrors—and the threats—that deranged nationalists are staging all the way to the country’s borders. In recent weeks, Albanian newspapers have become pointless bulletins about [?] internal squabbles. One newspaper attacks another, one journalist insults his colleague, as if we journalists and our newspapers had become the absolute protagonists of a spectacle that our readers have to watch day after day, paying an ever more expensive ticket. We are turning newspapers into weapons of blackmail: yesterday “Koha Jonë” introduced this new development. In reply to an article published in another newspaper, it issued an open threat: “Careful, we have documents in our hands that can destroy you.” We do not know which documents are meant, nor are we interested in knowing how the people concerned reacted after receiving the threat and—if they really were afraid of something hidden—kept silent. It is the method, the approach, that we oppose. We can only remind ourselves of what the fathers of European journalism teach us (at least those who claim to be independent): journalists must not become mouthpieces for parties and must not pretend to be level-headed people in place of politicians—as newspapers do when they pass messages on behalf of politicians; journalists do not blackmail; they do not write vulgar words; they do not incite revenge and hatred; they do not call on Justice to attack other newspapers. Information is not something to joke about. Newspapers should foster culture, but all of us, without exception, very often fail to measure up to this great task. We content ourselves with counting the number of copies sold day after day, without ever asking what our contribution was to the cultural growth of public opinion; without ever admitting which instincts we are relying on in order to sell one more copy and write the next day, “we are the greatest”: the danger is that we will wage a war among the defeated. There are people—even in Albania—who have paid a high price for the struggle for freedom of the press: we must build on their sacrifices. We cannot claim to defend the battles for freedom, democracy and respect if we are the first to fail to set a good example. The state has given us a Press Law that guarantees us rights and duties. We journalists must draw up a code of rules for ourselves. Not in order to write less—because that is good. Let us learn from those colleagues who, at this very moment—while we play with words and make light of jokes—are living this life of confrontation and tragic truth thousands of kilometres apart, amid the bombs of other people’s war. And let us remember that they are putting their lives on the line simply to practice the same profession as ours. What documents are we talking about? We are not even interested in knowing the circumstances of the people concerned who received the threat—and, as if they had turned away from something secret, they have remained silent. It is the method, the way of doing things, that we object to. true journalism teach us: documents—if they exist—are published, not announced in advance. All of us who provide information must reflect, remembering a few universal rules: newspapers must never accept any kind of financing; newspapers cannot wage a campaign against taxes they have never paid; journalists must not pay to collect news and must not be paid to publish it or withhold it; newspapers

The head of the Court of Cassation gets less than he requested Parliament defeats Brozi The courts’ budget is approved Vrioni: The denunciation is just noise TIRANA - Brozi’s first defeat in Parliament. Yesterday Albanian MPs finally approved the draft law on “Allocation of expenditure for the institutions comprising the judicial system.” At the beginning of last month, Parliament had assigned the Government the task of preparing the relevant breakdown of judicial-system expenditure. This immediately prompted a sharp reaction from the head of the Court of Cassation, Zef Brozi. On page 3

13 others intoxicated. Suspicions focus on the food Alarm at a nursery. Just minutes after food was served, more than 20 young children from the capital could no longer laugh as they had before. A poison—still a mystery—suddenly made them vomit, while their tender faces had already turned paler than usual. The staff at Tirana Nursery No. 45 were immediately gripped by terror, while the doctor—summoned urgently—sent seven of the children in the most serious condition to the Pediatric Hospital. On page 5

Sharp debate in Parliament yesterday Gjinushi challenges Arbnori walks out of the session TIRANA - Sharp controversies erupted in Parliament yesterday. Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of the People’s Assembly, and Skënder Gjinushi, leader of the PSD, exchanged remarks—the argument lasted about 20 minutes—during debate on the draft law on senior military and civilian appointments. “Get out, Mr. Gjinushi,” Arbnori said yesterday, while the chairman of the Social Democratic parliamentary group refused his order: “Let Arbnori leave—,” he said. Pjetër Arbnori Skënder Gjinushi

A new association is being sought. Accusations also directed at other leaders Headquarters of the Association of the Politically Persecuted

TIRANA - Defense Minister Zhulali will be at the center of parliamentary sessions tomorrow. The Socialist Party group has requested a no-confidence motion against him over the many problems that—according to PS MPs—weaken Zhulali’s position in the ministry he heads. The request, which has been submitted to the secretariat of Parliament, has been pending for three months and may be brought before Parliament for discussion tomorrow afternoon. The no-confidence motion against the Defense Minister will be presented on behalf of the Socialists by MP Adem Zyberi. At the center of his accusations is “corruption in the army and its politicization.” The PS group has referred to the fact that the allegations were “brought to light by the Albanian press, implicating the Albanian Defense Ministry.” The “Sotinos,” seized in Vlorë with smuggled cigarettes by the Financial Police and later released and escorted out to international waters by a military vessel, will once again be brought up. The “Vela Luku” case will also resurface; according to press reports, it transported Albanian weapons. Another issue will be the Ministry’s 240,000 dollars involving a Bulgarian company. The accusation that the army has been politicized is another reason the Socialists are seeking a no-confidence motion against Zhulali.

SHKODËR / Bloodshed in the village of Barxoll. Motives still unclear SHKODËR - A veritable massacre in the village of Barxoll in Shkodër. The village elder opened fire, killing his daughter and another woman, his cousin, and wounding her brother, Gjon Lajthia, who is now in hospital in very serious condition. After the terrible incident, the village elder, Zef Shutani, left, taking with him her two children. The story remains shrouded in mystery, leaving room for numerous hypotheses. On page 5

The bill arrived in the chamber last night, already “repealed” by the Labor Code A law that dies before it is even born Curious fate for the addendum to the Collective Agreement TIRANA - It was waiting to be born, but they forgot about it and left it to die before it was even born. This curious fate befell a draft law intended as an addendum to the Law “On the Collective Labor Agreement,” adopted back in December ’93. Last night the draft law—prepared under certain conditions—was found not only on the agenda but also in the hands of MPs, who were ready to vote on it. But intervention by the Chair of the Legal Affairs Commission, Hamit Shamata, was needed for the lawmakers to realize that the material on their desks—although not directly—had already been approved by them: “The bill is no longer relevant, because at the end of June ’95 the ‘Labor Code’ was adopted, which also provides for this addendum.” The legal expert then explained that the forgotten bill had been prepared long before the Labor Code was brought before Parliament, since at the time there were many problems with collective labor agreements, especially in the education system. In any case, the jurist’s explanation merely “consoled” the bill, at least by making it clear that it had been duplicated. For what purpose was the bill on education brought forward? It entered Parliament and left again without being touched. And thereafter it would never return to that chamber. Nor to the Official Gazette.

INTERVIEW TIRANA - “The departure from the association of some suspicious elements is not a problem for the Association of the Politically Persecuted. It is determined to defend its interests and the rights guaranteed by law.” “The departure from the association of some suspicious elements is not a problem for the Association of the Politically Persecuted. It is determined to defend its interests and the rights guaranteed by law. Those who want to leave are like a drop of water in the ocean compared with the 150,000 members with association status; they are insignificant. Both for the association and for the Right-Wing Union. They have never benefited from this association.” On page 3 The headquarters of the Association of the Politically Persecuted

TIRANA - The new Criminal Code continues to release prisoners. - The new Criminal Code continues to release prisoners. Yesterday, five more people benefited from the application of the new articles and thereby gained their freedom. Following applications submitted by the five convicts and a recommendation from the Prison Directorate, the Tirana Court made a final decision to release them on parole. Among those released was former police officer at unit 313, Baftjar Ndreu, who had been sentenced on April 1 following the major escape from Tirana prison. According to the court’s original ruling, he was to serve a 15-month sentence. The provisions for leniency in the new Code have allowed him to serve the remainder of his sentence outside prison. Ndreu is the first of the 13 accused police officers to be released from prison. Four others, convicted for various reasons, were released along with him. With yesterday’s ruling, the number of people released by the Tirana Court under the new Code has reached 12. Z.A.Kr

TIRANA - “Distance yourselves from Kurt

Elbasan 2 cars collide: 13 injured On page 5

Gjirokastër The “Glina” robberies: the president held hostage On page 5

Gjirokastër On page 3 Berat Animal disease affects three people On page 3 Kavajë The “hunting” of telephone lines continues On page 8

Pjetër Arbnori; Skënder Gjinushi