FORMER SHIK CHIEF This is how KOSENI brutalized me New evidence against the Director of Elbasan. People who experienced the chief policeman’s violence firsthand speak out. A report by “Human Rights” in Tirana sheds light on flagrant violations — On pages 2-3-4 Gazmend Noga Taulant Dedja Irakli Koçollari, former SHIK chief

Arian Çani Edmond Koseni is 33 years old; they say he is a brave young man. They say he is courageous, determined, and that he never bats an eyelid. Edmond is enterprising, even more than necessary. They say he is physically strong. Mr. Koseni has been Director of the Elbasan Police since March 1998, and many say that law and order in this province, even in its far-flung surrounding areas, has improved considerably. The chief policeman of this area has powerful backing—from the Minister of Public Order, Spartak Poçi, according to his colleagues in Tirana. The Ministry’s official assessments say that Koseni has succeeded in dismantling Elbasan’s two best-known gangs, those of “Kateshi” and “Mandela”. About three months ago, Minister Poçi proposed Koseni for a higher-ranking position in Tirana, but he declined. The narrative that has been taking shape for more than a year—that calm came to central Albania after Koseni arrived in the area—seems to have turned this senior local official into a police myth. But today this “myth” named Koseni is denounced not by one, but by several well-known public figures, against whom he himself, wielding his authority, has used physical violence. Today the newspaper presents new evidence denouncing the violence of the “mythical” chief policeman, including against people held in pretrial detention (those detained or suspected, but not yet tried). The newspaper reminds Koseni’s prosecutor that to understand the degree of democracy in a state, it is enough to see what happens in its pretrial detention cells.