Prosecutor’s Office resumes investigation: Why was merchant Çashku killed? The case file on the tragic incident at the Savings Bank branch is reopened. The general commanded the operation TIRANË - Agim Shehu accused of murder. The former Deputy Minister of the Interior is identified as the person chiefly responsible for the killing of merchant Shpëtim Çashku a year ago. “Shoot to neutralize,” Shehu ordered on 26 July 1996. Snipers’ bullets pierced the merchant’s body and caused his death in hospital. Prosecutor’s Office sources said yesterday that Agim Shehu would be charged with Çashku’s murder, and that an arrest warrant would be sought against him. After this, he will be declared a wanted person and Interpol will arrange his capture. The extradition request is ready to “travel” to the country where the general is sheltering. Yesterday, prosecutors set the investigation into the “Çashku” case in motion again. They watched the tape on which the scene of the tragic event had been filmed. “There is sufficient evidence for the charge,” the investigating prosecutors said yesterday. But Agim Shehu is now outside Albania’s borders, having fled immediately after the June elections. This is the first charge against Shehu, while further ones are expected from the Ministry of the Interior. A scene from the tragic incident at the Bank branch, (Above) Agim Shehu Tragedy in Fier DARKNESS COMES EARLIER Guarantees sought from Europe SARANDE Interpol will also enter the picture. Investigators: We will seek the suspect’s extradition Many questions remain about how the bloody incident at the Savings Bank counter was resolved The former head of the Police is suspected of having given orders that led to a tragic outcome On page 2

The state and the right to move around Teodor Keko A misfortune befell someone I know: his uncle died in Tropojë. He couldn’t go to the funeral, not because he didn’t want to, but, as he put it, because “I didn’t dare!” “The road isn’t safe,” he said. He neither complained nor blamed anyone. He doesn’t like politicians and doesn’t get involved in politics. He went on with his business. But this… these words, so simple and unadorned, started a conversation around the table. “Me too,” said a man from Shkodër, “it’s been three months since I went to see my mother in Shkodër. The last time I went, they tried to steal my Mercedes.” Another man, from Kurvelesh, said he hadn’t taken his children to the village to visit their grandmother. He too “didn’t dare.” “As for me,” a taxi driver chimed in, “I haven’t gone anywhere alone for six months. People of Tiranë, you’re talking to me about Tropojë and Tepelenë!” “So, at present, we’ve been deprived of the right to travel! Fine! Were the rest of us supposed to be born with money in our pockets?! People, you don’t want to. But if traders stop working for fear of being robbed, that really would be something! It would be, to put it vulgarly, as if farmers stopped planting crops for fear they would be stolen. Do you realize what a [unreadable] decision that would be? No one can deny the heroic work the police are doing to catch the thugs, but, on the other hand, their action against foreign ‘robbers’ should, essentially, be firm and modern. Meanwhile, Parliament can approve special, draconian laws on this matter. Whether they complain or not has nothing to do with this state’s policy. The state can certainly help persuade the world not to discredit us with visas, but inside Albania, as everywhere, a firm stance must be maintained against robbers. This will, on the one hand, help us return to being a hardworking people, but if we fail to do so, we will give the enemy cause for joy. Its action against foreign ‘robbers’ should be a modern punishment, and it must be firm. we will give the enemy cause for joy: for it to be, inside Albania, like a [loss?] with swords.

Tragedy in Fier FIER - She was playing near her home when a burst of automatic gunfire took the life of the four-year-old. Another child has fallen victim to the madness of guns and those who use them. The little girl was Natasha Serjani, from the Drizë neighborhood of Fier, and she died immediately after being struck by the powerful gunfire. The perpetrators of the crime are not yet known, but the police’s initial investigations have drawn a connection with another tragedy that occurred in the same neighborhood a few months ago. This concerns the massacre of a Roma family in Tepelenë, in which five of them lost their lives. Another hypothesis is that residents of the village of Zhupan may have fired the shots; they had been feuding with this neighborhood a few months earlier. On page 11

Guarantees are being sought from Europe TIRANA - Third day of the anti-censorship strike at TV. Yesterday, the government reduced the cordon around the site where the strikers are staying, while the opposition stepped up its attacks on RTV and its executives. “We demand the dismissal of the institution’s heads,” Berisha threatened at a press conference. According to him, only guarantees from the EU can get the strikers to end their strike. Meanwhile, the opposition leader has sounded the first alarm. They are getting worse. On page 3

FOOTBALL Tirana’s first defeat in Korçë Partizani returns. The victim of the Reds is Sopoti’s goal, which is “violated” five times On pages 9–10

“I DID NOT ACCEPT THE ASSIGNMENT” ROME - Antonio Di Pietro has withdrawn from the defense he was to provide to the families of the victims of Otranto. According to several sources who do not wish to be identified, in fact the famous former judge of “Clean Hands” had not accepted the survivors’ proposal during their meeting at the “Carafa” barracks. Carlo Taormina confirmed Di Pietro’s decision not to join the lawyers’ team; under the circumstances, this year the task has in fact been entrusted to him. The two [unclear] Taormina received a letter from Di Pietro around the middle of this month, in which the former lawyer asked him to take on the defense of the families affected by the Otranto tragedy, requesting his help in shedding light on the shipwreck tragedy. A few months later, Di Pietro visited the “Carafa” barracks, where the famous judge promised the survivors his help. Cilëkatsi Di Pietro had received a letter on the 34th [?]

TODAY 12 PAGES 30 LEKË GA [illegible] SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER AND SATURDAY 1 NOVEMBER 1997 [small illegible text] Pamela’s secret On pages 5-8 Pamela Anderson

It was It becomes TIRANË - The clock hands moved back 60 minutes today. 00:00 on 25 October becomes 11:00, making the day 25 hours long. The change of the clocks will mean a little more light in the morning, but we will also say goodbye to the sun earlier. The time changes according to the legal schedule, reminding us that the winter of long nights is approaching. To adjust our activities to the seasons, the clocks are changed twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. In spring, they are moved forward by agreement, so that the days are longer. The current time is Greenwich time, or the zero meridian. When you wake up, don’t forget to turn the clock hands back 60 minutes. Otherwise, you will miss an appointment.

SARANDE On page 2

TIRANA On page 11