From the Commercial Bank: The transfers were in order Prosecutor’s Office: We will also question people from the company, perhaps Alimucaj himself Investigations continue. Bank employees testify before prosecutors: Here is how Vehbi’s money was transferred Vehbi Alimucaj in the VEFA helicopter On page 3

STILL IN THE FOG Linda Spahia The VEFA-government battle has been raging for some time. The creditors’ interests have, at some point, become a thousandfold. In the creditors’ name, each side justifies the means it uses in the battle. Legal amnesty in the banking system is a good justification, not only for what happened with pyramid schemes in Albania, but also for the actions taken recently. VEFA was accused by the Government of illegal transfers because it had “mënxillogari”. In other words, Alimucaj transferred substantial sums of his personal money, which was working for him, through his bank account. In this way, he made it possible to withdraw more money from the bank than the amount of deposits made by the bank’s clients. But is this illegal? Bank employees say no. Elsewhere, the law and morality are invoked. An economic specialist and legal expert, while acknowledging the legal accusation, says: “Any action taken to conceal another action that is illegal is not proper.” He explains that the bank’s regulations also set a limit on the amount of money that can be transferred from one account to another, since withdrawals are involved in this case. If such transfers are made repeatedly and by a single entity, this is considered manipulation and constitutes a serious breach of controls. Even so, in this case it is not correct to say that a moral violation becomes a legal violation. The law exists, if there is room for interpretation. In this case, VEFA may emerge clean. The Government is required by the IMF and the World Bank to include it in the administration process as well. This is a condition, and the International Community has made clear that the Government must resolve this “problem” itself. Thus, impartially, the “VEFA” issue has entered politics. Before invoking the attractive pyramid schemes, and in order to judge the large sums it owes creditors, the Government is trying to achieve its aim with “kamërrave”. In a way, they bring to mind the trial of Nexhmije Hoxha, who was jailed because she had benefited from coffee at the people’s expense. If the administration has encountered no resistance at any of the other rentier firms, that is no reason to make us believe that they are less willing to take their property than Alimucaj is. VEFA is the only one that has resisted. This resistance can be interpreted in many ways, beginning with the idea that the company has something to hide. VEFA’s side says the Government has turned its battle with VEFA into a personal matter. Among other suspicions, their statements have suggested that “Albania” “closure” has been translated as “administration.” But is there any other way to delay and conceal the Government’s seizure of a private company’s money? Can the Government report a bank offense before the bank itself has done so? VEFA says the Government has misunderstood its powers and put it at risk. The Government says that the state’s regulatory role in the economy is established by law, and therefore its intervention is justified. But can the state itself be notified by the Government? Can the Government give itself the right, under a law for the state, to control its own resources? The public remains caught in a vacuum where laws and responsibilities do not reach. On the side of law and morality.

Yesterday’s meeting set the final decision: An American company will verify the company’s entire activity On page 3

The law on administrators in the balance. Yesterday the Constitutional Court heard both sides, but no decision has yet been made On page 3

“WE ARE ALSO INVESTIGATING IN ITALY” Vigna, Prosecutor of the Italian Anti-Mafia Directorate (Photo: P. Ilo) TIRANA - The Italian Mafia repeatedly targeted Albanian companies. “In several local prosecutor’s offices, we are investigating suspicions of the Italian criminal organizations’ extensive involvement in this criminal activity,” Piero Luigi Vigna, head of the Italian Anti-Mafia Directorate, told the press yesterday. This strong statement was made yesterday, confirming that suspicions about links between foreign Mafia groups and Albania during the heyday of the rentier firms have not remained mere suspicions. On page 3

WINTER IS NEAR KUKËS - Winter is taking over the North with its full arsenal. A number of small and large towns, together with villages and all the surrounding areas, are now under the white rule of snow. On page 6

Following the parties’ disagreement over RTV The marathon meeting leads to a resolution of the conflict TIRANA - The parties reach the “great” consensus. RTV will now be monitored by a permanent oversight commission. “We agree with this accord; we are ending the strike.” More than five hours of talks were needed for the political parties to finally reach an agreement signed by Berisha and Uglini. RTV will be overseen by a permanent monitoring commission. New regulations will be drafted to spell out the details of the Arbnori amendment. Alternative views will also be included on RTV. These are the main points of the agreement, whose signing was supported by four more MPs, both inside and at the strike table. A few more minutes were needed to make it clear that this consensus was supported by their demands. Finally, at 22:30, the Democratic MPs came outside and embraced one another. PD strikers On page 2

- A powerful explosion struck Fier on Monday evening, particularly in the January 11 neighborhood. Cooking gas has struck again. The explosion was accompanied by a major fire. The incident took place at one of the city’s main bread-producing factories. The explosion, fortunately, occurred when there were no workers in the factory; it was the beginning of the third shift. Police and three firefighters arrived at the scene and, with exemplary speed, managed to put out the flames. The latter were coming from the upper part of the building, where the offices of the “Velija” company, which owns the bakery, were located. On page 5

Greece ATHENS - A mysterious killing in Victoria Square in Athens. 600 members of the Greek minority were protesting on Saturday against the police forces when one of them was shot with a firearm. The mystery unfolded on Saturday in the Greek city. Meanwhile, in Athens, the other refugees have demanded justice and organization. The motives for the crime have not yet been established, but according to the Greek police, the investigation has been directed toward the mafia-like activities of Albanian gangs. Anxiety and terror gripped all of Victoria Square when a burst of gunfire changed the atmosphere of the rally. 600 people had begun protesting days earlier in Athens’s well-known Omonia Square. Former political prisoners and members of the Greek minority were asking the Greek government to grant them equal rights with Greek citizens. On page 6

“You must remove the word ‘qorr’ from your vocabulary” THEIR DIRECTOR SAYS TIRANA - Blind students at the Institute for students who cannot see are asking for offensive expressions about them to be removed from folk proverbs and from everyday speech. “Expressions such as ‘blind bullet,’ ‘blind road,’ and so on have become commonplace and no longer jar anyone’s ears,” says the director of this institution, Ramazan Kabashi, thereby drawing attention to the most troubling social problem facing the people in this disadvantaged category whom he represents: insults and exclusion from society. People’s speech is becoming more practical, more telegraphic, or something else entirely, only God knows, while at the same time perhaps unintentionally tarnishing its morality. Because language, too, has a morality. Surely no one realizes that a careless word can sometimes hurt more than the bullet to which it may refer. “If, until now, you have been able to notice the change that has brought their institution into being and improved their rights, then this is a better time, and no insult of this kind will be tolerated any longer,” director Kabashi concludes. Sokol Shameti On page 2 Blind children at their Institute

SPORT On page 7

Death compensation: 150 million lire On page 5