Prefect Karapici: “They have committed terrorist acts” The protesters had blocked the capital’s water depot and would not allow work on the dam of the water-supply reservoir The capital is freed from the threat of drought. Yesterday, in the early hours of the morning, special forces of the Ministry of the Interior intervened by force to free Tirana’s water-supply system from a large number of protesting villagers. 28 villagers ended up in police custody. Criminal proceedings have been sought against all of them, and since yesterday special police forces have been keeping watch over the Bovilla dam On page 3

TIRANA - Around 200 kilograms of meat, more than 1,000 bottles of beer, and hundreds more bottles of drinks and lemonade tried for hours to “intoxicate” the 300 guests of the President of the Court of Cassation, Zef Brozi. It was precisely that evening that dawned quite differently for Albania’s 36-year-old chief judge. Just a few hours earlier—under the blessing of Pope John Paul 2—the couple Zef Brozi and Diana Agolli had sworn before God and all the guests at the Cathedral of Tirana’s Catholic Church. Sunday’s wedding ceremony—officiated by the Archbishop of Tirana and Durrës, Rrok Mirdita, and the Ambassador of the Holy See in Tirana, Ivan Diaz—was attended by dozens of members of parliament from various Albanian parties, journalists, and representatives of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in the Albanian capital. Six television video cameras and dozens of flashes could not stop until the early hours of Monday, although this time their “reward” was capturing Brozi’s dancing and swaying with 24-year-old Diana, who is in love and has just graduated in the same profession as her husband. Among the “sea” of gifts and greetings for the Brozi couple, a carved gold Madonna was considered the most delightful gift for the newlyweds: a honeymoon to be spent starting today on the Ionian coast. Edmond Laçi The last toast as a bachelor

The ‘Rozafa’ case

Rainfall brings material damage SHKODËR - Waves of rain and storms have swept into northern Albania with great force, unexpectedly, and causing damage. Shkodër fell victim to a storm that often caught people unprepared throughout Sunday, and which caused a fire at Kolë Peliku’s house. The fire was caused in the evening by the many lightning strikes that lit up the sky throughout the night. Damage was caused—

Yesterday’s decision by the Presidium On page 3 The Chairman of the Youth Forum

Where Berisha and the party leaders spend their holidays TIRANA - The politicians’ “escape” from the capital begins. The first to leave the heat of Tirana ahead of these state officials. For a week now, President Berisha has no longer been in his offices. Many people have met him on the promenades from Skela to Uji i Ftohtë. Berisha has decided to spend his holiday for three weeks at presidential villa number 1. He fishes off the coast of Vlora, but does not spend his time without taking walks around Karaburun with his presidential entourage. On page 5

Hotel Rozafa TIRANA – The Constitutional Court yesterday overturned, around 2 o’clock, the Government’s decision, thus settling—at least temporarily—the issue of Hotel “Rozafa”. The Council of Ministers’ decision to privatize Hotel “Rozafa” has no basis in the law on the return and compensation of property to former owners. The highest body for the protection of Albania’s fundamental laws thus reviewed the decision made some time ago, which had awarded the property to a group of 40 persecuted people. The Constitutional Court’s decision, although it took into consideration only the allegations and legal facts presented by just one of the parties bringing the case, the group of former owners. The other party, the Food Workers’ Union, also claimed that the Government’s decision had violated the law by carrying out a privatization without an auction; its claims, too, were found to have no basis in property law. “An auction is not the only form of privatization”: with these words, the high court rejected the Union’s decision. The former owners’ claims—that the hotel had been privatized without taking into account the right of pre-emption granted by law to the property’s former owners in the event of privatization—prevailed in their appeal to the courts. Thus, “the transfer of the property to the group of 40 persecuted people was made by the Government without taking the former owners’ rights into account.” The privatization of the hotel is considered a prestigious matter in Shkodër. The fortress is therefore at the forefront of the dispute between the aggrieved party, the workers and the director who was dismissed a few days ago, and the local authorities of Shkodër. In the end, an implementation order based on the decision now annulled by the Constitutional Court had been issued beyond the scope of its authority, and backed there by the force of a liquidation order. Sokol Balla

SHKODËR – They arrived suddenly and violently, with severe damage from the storms in northern Albania. unprepared, despite their having become accustomed to the heat of the past two months. A lightning bolt struck, leaving a family in the city without a home. Cooler weather and rain were, in fact, expected as a welcome change after the great heat in the city of Shkodër. But the storm and downpour brought abundant rain to the northern capital and lasted for two days in a row. It was the powerful lightning strikes throughout the day yesterday that caused a fire at Kole Peliku’s house. The fire broke out in the evening, caused by the many flashes of lightning that lit up the sky all night. Other damage was also caused, but most of it was at the Peliku home. The house fire has left the Peliku family homeless, placing them and the other members of the family among those without shelter. In response, the owner of the damaged house has made every effort, carrying food, provisions and the local radio as well, to help them through the disaster that this time came from the skies... Ylli Pata

The President turns his vacation on the Ionian coast into working meetings VLORE – “Drugs and corruption: this is the calamity that has left Vlorë without tourists this year.” President Berisha, visiting the southern coastal city as a tourist, did not fail to express his regret at the absence of foreigners in Vlorë. According to the Albanian president, the charming city has this time missed out on the influx of foreign tourists as a result of the bad image given to it in Europe by the media, because of people-smuggling, drug cultivation and the spread of mafia networks, especially the Italian mafia. President Berisha made these points during his vacation, which he turned into meetings with Vlorë’s leaders. The first subject of discussion was drugs, their cultivation, and the fight against the trafficking and production of narcotics. Vlorë’s geographical position and its bad image, which has spread across Europe along with news of people-smuggling, drugs and the mafia, have harmed organized tourism and left Vlorë’s beauty deprived of visitors to admire it. Berisha also linked these phenomena in the life of the city to the corruption present in the police and local government bodies. After holding a meeting with the police commissioner and making a show of his opposition to drugs and organized crime upon arriving in Vlorë, the President did not hesitate to react sharply to military personnel involved in illegal activities: “For officers against whom there is evidence of corruption, there will no longer be leave or dismissal from duty; immediate criminal prosecution must not be delayed.” At Berisha’s meeting on Sunday with Vlorë’s leaders, matters raised included repairing the damaged water supply systems and building three peripheral roads serving the villages, the Albpetrol refinery, and Government-funded projects. Regarding relations with Italy, the neighboring country, and the construction of its consulate in Vlorë, Berisha did not hesitate to say that such a step would help bilateral relations and local development in Vlorë, promising an appropriate solution at the proper level: “This is especially important for Vlorë, where diplomacy must contribute to blocking and controlling this crossroads against possible illegal activities, given the favorable conditions created by its geographical position.” President Berisha Stavri Marko

The Djathë League sues Parliament The indictment reaches the Constitutional Court today On page 5

Krasniqi: Here’s how we get along with the old guard of the DP On page 3

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Six detained for drugs On page 3 Gjirokastër A debtor held hostage On page 3