Prosecutor’s Office of Tirana launches investigations. “The phenomenon may be more widespread” Scandal involving the disabled “Social assistance was stolen for a year” Allegation by the Mayor of the Capital, Brojka: Fake files TIRANA - Albert Brojka denounces the scandal involving people with disabilities. Five certificates have been forged, and someone has received economic assistance for a whole year “in the name of an illness.” At one administrative unit, five files concerning five “disabled” children were accepted by hand, even though in reality they had no health problems at all. The Municipality’s inspection uncovered the fraud. The administrator of a unit in Tirana is the main suspect. Over the course of a year, 1.8 million old lekë were stolen from the state. The “phantom” person collected the money using forged civil-status certificates. The files have disappeared, while the families registered for assistance did not even know that someone was receiving the designated sums under their children’s names. Investigations have begun, while fraud of this kind is very widespread. On page 4: about Milosheviçin On page 3 On page 5 On page 6 Erjon Tase

On page 3 Ready for Milosheviçin

TIRANA / THE VERDICT TIRANA - “Sude Kadenëna is to be sentenced to 5 years in prison.” These were the court’s final words in the trial of the usurer. Benefiting from the April amnesty, the boss of the pyramid schemes will serve only 3 years and four months of this sentence. The panel of judges found the four other defendants guilty of the charge of fraud committed in collusion. “Sudja employed her relatives to keep the secret of her fraudulent activity,” Judge Gjoni said in support of the verdict. The sentence does not seem to have “discouraged” the creditors present in the courtroom. The maximum sentence has been handed down to the usurer Sude. The court of first instance found her guilty of fraud committed in collusion involving large sums. At yesterday’s hearing, the panel of judges imposed a five-year prison sentence on Sude Kadenëna and lighter sentences on her accomplices. Thus, Dr. Mashtrimi Stolia was sentenced to 9 months in prison, Hamdi Hysa to 8 months, Altin Lami to 6 months, and his wife Yllka to time already served in pre-trial detention only. The court recognized Sudja’s activity as a pyramid scheme. “The defendant activity,” Judge Gjon Gjoni said. “The fraud was not carried out directly. She had no direct contact with the victims,” the presiding judge said. er.ta

Nehat Kulla TIRANA - The case file on Nehat Kulla has arrived at court. In addition to the well-known murder of the two Neziri brothers, he is also charged with the murder of Petrit Moriseni and the kidnapping of Andi Kacka. Everything is ready, and this case will soon begin to be heard in the defendant’s absence. The case against Nehat Kulla has arrived at the Tirana court. This time, two other crimes have been added to it. Nehat must also answer for Kacka. The prosecution appears to have built its case around the murder of the Neziri brothers. According to the prosecution representative, this crime was committed in collaboration with Muharrem Haka. Before the prisons were opened, the two detainees had given their accounts of this incident. According to the investigation, on August 12 of last year, Nehat asked Muharrem to drive him in his car to visit a friend. On the way, they saw the car of the two police brothers. With a submachine gun in his hand, Nehat Kulla got out of the car and addressed Besim and Gëzim Neziri: “Why are you following us from behind?” “Shoot,” someone said, and the gun to Muharrem. In this way, the latter took the lives of the two brothers. On September 25, ’96, at around four in the morning, law-enforcement officers arrested the wanted Kulla in a house on “Siri Kodra” Street. At the time of his arrest, he had a submachine gun. Criminal proceedings were subsequently opened for the murder of the two Neziri brothers. But the opening of the prisons in March this year prevented the Justice authorities from beginning the trial. This time Kulla is also being prosecuted for the other crimes. His trial is expected to begin very soon at the court of first instance. 44-year-old Kulla will be tried in absentia after escaping from Prison 313. Recently he became the subject of press coverage following statements by several former senior army officers. “The Prosecutor’s Office should take into account Nehat Kulla’s assistance in guarding some army depots during the unrest in March,” one of the former army chiefs said recently. Erjon Tase

Yesterday, the new leadership. Pollo deputy chairman and Bode secretary Other well-known figures out of the leadership TIRANA - Tritan Shehu leaves the Party leadership. Yesterday’s vote has excluded the former leader from the PD’s upper echelons. “This is not normal, but it shows that the PD lacks maturity.” This was the first comment by Shehu, now ousted from the Party’s senior positions. Other high-profile departures have also been recorded: those of Meksi, Spahiu, Shamata, as well as other VIP names in the Party. On page 2

Strike on its fifth day TIRANA - The PD MPs’ hunger strike has entered its fifth day. Now, in a van instead of a Benci, they continue to remain in the same positions. Minarolli’s health has deteriorated, and Hajdari and Vejsiu are also showing signs of fatigue. On page 2

Yesterday in Parliament TIRANA - Fatos Nano appears before the deputies and recounts his mission in Rome and Brussels. The Albanian prime minister once again counted the money received from Europe, told the parliamentarians what the government he leads did to attract it, and confirmed the conditions set by Europe for continuing this financing. Nano also laid out before Parliament all the areas of development in which Albania is expected to receive assistance, said that the donors in Brussels had shown themselves to be open and confident about their future investments, and called the Conference’s outcome “the platform for Albania’s salvation.” Nano once again called on the PD and Berisha “to definitively abandon the politics of the street and the strategy of tension” and instead “to cooperate and enter the contest of ideas and programs.” On page 3

ELBASAN - Workers at the Medical Plant go on strike. - Workers at the Medical Plant go on strike. “We want to resume work” was the main demand of more than 450 people who stood still in front of the Plant’s offices for an hour on Monday. A list of five demands had been sent to the management, and the union has decided to wait until November 8 for them to be met; otherwise, the strike will grow in scale. On page 6

BLOOD FEUD On page 5

TIRANA - Albanian beauty queen Valbonë Çoba returns to the capital. After considerable success for an Albanian woman in neighboring Greece, Çoba sets foot in Tirana for an as-yet-unknown period. The first Albanian Miss Smile of 1991 has “taken advantage” of every opportunity on Greek soil to become one of the Balkan beauties’ “sirens.” During the five years she lived and worked among Athens’s 4 million inhabitants, Çoba successfully took part in the variety show “3,2,1,” broadcast by one of the most prestigious television channels, called “Antena,” as well as in several television films. The last time she appeared on Albanian screens was during a presentation at the 35th anniversary song festival on RTV, where she made her debut in this genre alongside singer-songwriter Ardit Gjebrea. Sources say that Valbona Çoba is currently the main star of the “Swatch” television commercial.

Villenueve demolishes the Schumacher myth On page 7

TIRANA - The capital’s money changers are changing locations. From their traditional spot in front of the PS headquarters, they have now moved behind the Opera and Ballet Theatre. An order from above has prompted the mass relocation of the money changers, who do not seem pleased with this latest suggestion. The TOB artists are also unhappy. “We cannot work with money changers right in front of us,” say the theatre’s artists, those in the brass section and the vocalists. Since yesterday, the capital’s money changers have found themselves several hundred metres from the traditional place where they have operated their exchange since ’91. Two days ago, an intermediary placed the street “bankers” behind the Palace of Culture. Their arrival really does seem to have provoked a strong reaction among dozens of TOB artists, who have gone on the attack. A letter they sent to Nora informs the prime minister of their demand for the urgent removal of the money changers, as well as the buses parked right in front of them. The TOB artists are pressing their “demand.” “We will all abandon our work and rehearsals if our request receives no response.” Another strike seems to be looming on the cultural horizon, following those taking place on the steps of Albanian politics. E. Xhie

Yesterday, the new leadership. Pollo deputy chairman and Bode secretary Yesterday in Parliament Elbasan BLOOD FEUD