Kanto Syku, the number-two character in the Greek newspapers DURING THE PAST WEEK, ALMOST ALL THE MAJOR GREEK NEWSPAPERS DEVOTED AN IMPORTANT PLACE ON THEIR FRONT PAGES TO THE MURDER OF A YOUNG MAN FROM LEZHA BY A GROUP OF ALBANIAN THIEVES. IN THE NEWS THAT DAY, GREEK TELEVISION SOUNDED THE ALARM: THE ALBANIAN MAFIA IN GREECE! THE ALBANIAN MAFIA IN GREECE!... • DURING THE PAST WEEK, ALMOST ALL THE MAJOR GREEK NEWSPAPERS DEVOTED AN IMPORTANT PLACE ON THEIR FRONT PAGES TO THE MURDER OF A YOUNG MAN FROM LEZHA BY A GROUP OF ALBANIAN THIEVES. • IN THE NEWS THAT DAY, GREEK TELEVISION SOUNDED THE ALARM: THE ALBANIAN MAFIA IN GREECE! THE ALBANIAN MAFIA IN GREECE!... Albanians kill Albanians. 100 m from the Church of Saint Peter in Koropi is a former stable, divided into two parts, where Albanian refugees have found shelter. This camp was attacked by a group of people. The crime, which has still not been clarified by the police, became known at midnight on Sunday. A few days earlier, news had spread that the Albanians living in this former stable had dollars stashed away. 27-year-old Ludovik Syku was shot by a member of the gang and died immediately. From that moment on, the account of the incident was based on the statements of Ludovik’s friends. Around midnight, a group of six people wearing masks approached the dwelling. All the bandits were on motorcycles, armed with two rifles, two pistols and shotguns, and approached the door, which had begun to give way. As soon as the door opened, Ludovik found himself face to face with a rifle barrel. He did not have time to say anything before he was hit by a volley on his left side. The buckshot (calibre 7) stopped his heart. The other friends ran to alert their neighbour Kostandino Gjika, who immediately notified the police. Many Albanians living nearby, as well as other neighbours, gathered at the police station. They said the bandits had come to rob the place, but when confronted with an unexpected murder, they fled at full speed. The police believe they are on the trail of the crime and think this was a settling of accounts between Albanians from that area. However, according to the statement of the wit-[text continues beyond the image boundary] The interview (with the brother of the man killed in Greece) was conducted on Saturday, September 14, at his home in the village of Tale, Lezhë. On the day of the murder, we were all together. We spent the evening at the “Platia” café in Koropi, 20 km from Athens. At my table were my cousin, my brother and a man from Tirana. Across from us was a young man from Shëngjin. His name is Agron Ziu. At one point, a refugee from Puka came and loudly told Agron: “Leave quickly. Someone has been killed. The Greek police are coming.” We left. I went home. My brother, Ludovik, who was later killed, stayed behind, as my cousin said. At about 24:00 he came home. Not even 10 minutes had passed when we heard voices shouting: “Come outside. We have a job to do with you.” We turned on the courtyard lights. There were seven of them in all, their faces masked, with rifles, pistols and hunting guns. They also had axes in their hands. We asked why they had come at that hour and why they were masked. They insisted that we open the gate. Then they fired into the air with a double-barrelled gun. Only one of them spoke Albanian. The others said nothing. The one who spoke emphasized [unclear in source]. After an hour they broke down the door. Ludovik came out first so they would not get inside. At that moment he was shot. [text continues beyond the image boundary] He took two or three steps and fell to the ground. He died instantly. Then they ran away. We went outside. The Greek police arrived later. Not a trace. More than 30 Albanians were summoned to the police station. Agron Ziu from Shëngjin and the man from Puka too. That night, when the crime was committed, one of them was taller than the others. I clearly noticed that. The next day he had shaved! We told the Greek police about this too. We explained that the “news” the man from Puka brought to the restaurant—“Leave, someone has been killed...” —was not true. So he had lied. Why? Let the police find out. All the Albanians came to offer condolences for my brother from Greece. (Ludovik spent three days in the morgue.) Only the two young men from Shëngjin, the brothers Josif Ziu and Agron Ziu, and the man from Puka did not come. Coincidence!? They were precisely the ones who fled Greece. Or, more accurately, hid after the incident. We only suspect them. Let the investigators and the police find the facts. — I would like to add that my brother’s watch and clothes were stolen from him in the Greek morgue. We had to buy him replacements. — A Greek friend of mine, Jani Haxhis, a jazz-band musician, is helping investigate this incident and uncover the truth. Greek television broadcast sensational news about Ludovik’s murder for two days running. In the end, my brother died, and I do not know who killed him... ... afterwards, they mentioned the incident, based on the testimony of Ludoviku’s approached the house. All the bandits were on motorcycles and armed with two rifles, two pistols, and two axes. They spoke Albanian. The robbers began pounding hard on the door. The two brothers (Ludoviku and his friends) would not open it. Then they began striking the door with the axes. Ludoviku got up and grabbed a leg...

• Only RAIUNO and RAIDUE can be watched in summer, while in winter it is Titograd. Do we need Italian culture more, or Yugoslav culture!? Until a few months ago, the activists of the front and the basic organizations of the PP were on alert to tear down every antenna pointed toward Italy. “Foreign broadcasts,” said the communist party leader, E. Hoxha. That was all it took, and tens of thousands of “activists” would rush to carry out his order. Never mind that the BLOKISTS themselves watched foreign stations. They say Rita Marko and Nexhmije Hoxha liked TELENORBÉ. Anyway. That time has passed. So why isn’t work being done to get television boosters operating in all the districts? Elbasan, Berat, Përmet and, most recently, Rubik have solved this problem. What about the others? Tirana needs to be able to watch all the stations throughout the year, not just in summer. Lezhë, with Mount Tyrbe as a particularly suitable location, could and should install a booster. [text continues beyond the image boundary] The people of Lezhë are being asked to contribute a symbolic sum of money. I think all the residents of the city of Lezhë would like this idea. Therefore, it would be good for a group of Lezhë engineers, in cooperation with those from Tirana TV, to get to work. RAMË MUJA

Around 1 a.m., an armed gang carrying hunting rifles and pistols was in the courtyard of a former stable in Koropi, rented for 40,000 drachmas a month by Ludoviku and his friends. The bandits shouted in Albanian: “Open up, or we’ll burn you.” The sleepers got up in fright. The killers broke the glass in the gate with an axe; it then opened, and they entered the corridor. At that moment, the people under attack, trying to defend themselves, broke a chair and confronted the killers with chair legs in their hands. Faced with this resistance, one of the killers fired a rifle. The buckshot fatally struck 27-year-old Ludovik Syku. The bandits (six of them), after firing once more into the air, vanished in a hurry. There were not many people in the neighbourhood where they lived, on Leoforo NATO in Koropi, to come to their aid. Two of them managed to reach Mr Niko Gjika’s house shortly before two in the morning. “They woke me with their shouting and cries. I grabbed a hunting rifle I had and ran to help them, but by then Ludovik was dead,” Mr Gjika says. Ludovik’s friends, who went to the police station, were kept there all night, frightened and crying without stopping. (Taken from the newspaper «TA NEA»)

Six masked men (their heads covered), prepared to commit a crime (believed to be revenge), kill their compatriot, the refugee Ludovik Syku, who lived in a neighbourhood of Koropi, 100 m from the Church of Saint Peter. He lived there with his brother and five other friends. The killers cut through the lock with an axe. They also carried hunting rifles and pistols. They spoke Albanian. They did not waste time. They went straight to 27-year-old Ludovik Syku, dragged him outside, and one of them shot him directly in the heart. Ludovik fell to the ground, breathing his last. (Taken from the newspaper «EKONOMIA»)

The robbery took place on Saturday evening at the cleaning and security company «HALLON» belonging to Nikolaou Aravanis (36) in the Paraga neighbourhood of Spaton. The thieves, about six in number, seized two Northern Epirotes, Jani Jani (18) and Thoma Jani (24), guards at the site. With the help of a hunting rifle and a pistol, they forced the two Northern Epirotes to load a large quantity of goods into their car, registration number YYN-75 12, which they had also stolen. That same evening, two people with multiple blows to the head were taken to the central state hospital of Piraeus. The two young men (Dhionis Memidhis and Hamitis Memitis—both 20 years old) were attacked while asleep in their home in Germanika, Aspropirgus, by six people; the first had 105,000 drachmas taken from him, and the other 50,000 drachmas.

News agencies meanwhile report that 3 Albanians were killed on the island of Corfu. According to the reports, the Albanians were killed by an unidentified Greek terrorist group. Meanwhile, the Greek police are searching for the perpetrators of the crime, but without any positive result.

... I’m sorry to spend these lines on you. In the RD of 18-9-91, you published an article criticizing the trio Lesi, Çupi, Zeka, as well as the newspaper «Koha jonë», calling them monists and anti-democrats. I’m very glad that at last your voice has been heard. Under your name in this article it says: deputy. During five months in parliament, your voice was never heard once on behalf of the area you represent, whereas now you come out with quite a piece against the “anti-democratic” trio. Does it cross your mind that you are more democratic than Frok Çupi? You are mistaken, professor without a degree. No matter how hard you work for democracy, you will never be able to give as much as Frok Çupi gave during the period he worked at RD. You would do well to respond to the criticisms made against you by members of the PD in Lezhë instead of occupying yourself with such “anti-democrats.” I don’t think it’s worth spending any more space in this newspaper on you. A. FRANGAJ

A life cut short and a grief (Ludoviku on the right)

The Greek government will take strict measures against its citizens if they shelter Albanians without the appropriate documents. The fine can be as much as 1 million drachmas.