DYNAMITE ATTACK ON THE WATER UTILITY On page 7

Order uncovered: Make a massacre when you kill Sul Dema An investigation has begun into the police officers who allowed the getaway car to pass. The four checkpoints in Laprakë and Kamzë did not respond to the calls over the operations room’s radio. Criminal investigators had signaled the murder and how it would be carried out back in January. An investigation has begun into the police officers who allowed the getaway car to pass. The four checkpoints in Laprakë and Kamzë did not respond to the calls over the operations room’s radio. Criminal investigators had signaled the murder and how it would be carried out back in January On page 3 Sulejman Dema, executed the day before yesterday in the center of Tirana

Arian Çani When, four or five years ago, the press was trying to inform public opinion about the truth in Albania, the rubber baton in the hands of General Agim Shehu threatened the Albanian Newspaper, saying it should not concern itself with the Ministry of Public Order. Two days ago, a statement from the press office of Socialist Minister Spartak Poçi brought us back to the climate of those years, reminding us that the substance and manner of communicating with the media is more or less the same now, in Minister Poçi’s days, as it was then, in General Shehu’s time. Just two days ago, a few hours after the unrest in Kukës, the Newspaper wrote in an editorial that “it is regrettable that 100 armed pseudo-traders attack and take hostage four vans carrying 30 police officers.” The Newspaper expressed its opinion that this was a “disgrace for the Police.” Because the Police must not back down in the face of individuals trying to break the laws of the state. In other words, the Newspaper did nothing but encourage the Police’s fight against every kind of criminal element. And what was the response drafted in Poçi’s office? A direct accusation against the Newspaper: “Fighting crime, confronting the destructive actions of elements seeking confrontation with the state and its legal provisions, is not a ‘disgrace for the police,’ but the position of this kind of police. We believe that statements of this kind have a considerable influence on the shaping of negative opinions and serve to undermine the work of the police. It is not the first time that ‘Gazeta Shqiptare’ has covered issues in a way that is disinformative and favorable to elements with criminal tendencies...” Under these circumstances, the Newspaper’s editorial staff reminds the uninformed heads of this Ministry: 1. They should restrain themselves from making assessments that are both absurd and deliberate. 2. They should learn to read the press. 3. They should not waste time judging or accusing people in a profession they do not know. 4. They should focus on maintaining public order and preventing forewarned incidents, such as those in Kukës or the spectacular murders in the center of Tirana. 5. They should be fair to the independent media and not treat it as if it were their own “pocket.” 6. They should not forget that the days of Agim Shehu and the authorities’ threats against journalists are now over. The dynamite placed yesterday against the water supply in Kukës, immediately following the events in the same city two days earlier, once again proves the Newspaper’s concern that the Police and its leaders are unable to prevent unrest, especially on the eve of the election campaign. The Newspaper will not hesitate—despite any deliberate misinterpretations that may subsequently come from Poçi’s office—to once again call every failure to fight crime and confront the destructive actions of elements seeking confrontation with the state and its legal provisions a “disgrace for the Police.” Minister Poçi should bear in mind that when we say “disgrace for the Police,” the primary responsibility can by no means lie with ordinary police officers. The latter’s fight against crime cannot be achieved solely through harsh statements by the political authorities in this Ministry.

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