THE GERMAN NEWSPAPER «DI VELT» PUBLISHES AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. SALI BERISHA UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE: «DROHUNG IN GORBATSCHOW GEHEN». GERMAN NEWSPAPER «DI VELT» PUBLISHES AN INTERVIEW WITH MR. SALI BERISHA UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADLINE: «DROHUNG IN GORBATSCHOW GEHEN». INTERVIEW EXCERPT «We have evidence that Ramiz Alia, step by step and together with Serbia, wants to provoke a massacre in Kosovo. To this end, he wants to send the population of the mountains of northern Albania across the border, so that the Serbian army will begin an operation. This would be the start of the war». The interview was conducted by journalist BORIS KALNOKY. As soon as the German newspaper came into my hands, the first thing I did was look for journalist Boris Kalnoky, to ask him whether I could meet him at Hotel «Dajti». My mind was turning over all kinds of thoughts. Could it be some sort of scoop by the German journalist, or perhaps something done deliberately to raise awareness among world opinion, or with some more distant aim; the newspaper in question reached Albania, and naturally someone would translate it. And this would set off the SALI–RAMIZ battle, naturally on a scale of historic proportions. But, unfortunately, journalist KALNOKY was not there. I was told he had left on a scheduled flight. Then, since ... ... do party leaders take them into their «bosom» when they trample them with both feet? Should the law apply equally to the President and to an ordinary citizen? A whole host of questions which, it seems, will not be answered, since perhaps, through the inertia of the moment, nobody intends to enforce them strictly. And yet a democratic state has strong laws. To clarify why President Alia is also silent in the face of such an accusation, we went to his office. There, the representative of the President’s press office, Bashkim Hoxha, told us: «There is a logic to the order of things. Before innocence can be argued, evidence of guilt must be presented. To date, nobody has presented any such evidence, so there is no need to make a statement...» N. Lesi: «The balloon has been launched. But now both Mr. Alia and Mr. Berisha are silent!» R. Gjata: The President should file a complaint about this accusation. If he does not complain, there is no reason to pursue it further. Mr. Alia should appear before the Tirana Court, like any other ordinary citizen, to ... N. Lesi: But what if Mr. Alia is interested in not stirring up this issue because he has «a fly under his hat»? What happens then? R. Gjata: No action without his complaint! N. Lesi: But what if Mr. Sali has been talking nonsense?… R. Gjata:… (did not answer) Not satisfied with the answer from the Vice-President of the Supreme Court either, since he avoided giving a precise answer and explanation, I went to the «man in charge», namely the chairman of the DP, Sali Berisha. I got as far as the second floor without any difficulty. But in front of his secretary’s door, his aide stopped me, a tall man, around 45. After I showed my press card, he proved willing to help, even courteous. Mr. Sali’s secretary, a pleasant brunette, was also willing to help me meet their leader. While I was waiting in her office, a loud voice came from Mr. Sali’s office: «The DP has committed itself to fighting the crypto-communists, the traitor president...» I asked the secretary whether he was in a meeting and shouting so loudly. Always cautious, she answered me: «No, he’s completely alone». Alone!? Who is he talking to like that? His voice came again from the office: «One, two, three, the Democratic Party is committed... One, two, three, Part...». I waited until he finished. I thought perhaps he was rehearsing for a rally. Eventually he came out. The secretary stiffened in her seat. She froze. «Take this cassette to its place,» Sali told the secretary. At last, right in front of me, barely 30 cm away, was the man of this year’s rallies, which have swept away bureaucracy and shaken communism out of Albania, once and for all, the Albania of dictator E. Hoxha. After I explained why I had come, he seemed uncertain, somewhat pensive, contrary to his impulsive temperament. He asked a rhetorical question: «Who has accused the president!?» and kept looking me in the eye. I looked him straight in the eye too. Not without emotion. I presented the facts of the interview in the German newspaper. Again he seemed lost in thought. Are the German journalist’s words true? I asked. Mr. Sali neither denied nor accepted them. He was silent. A silence that leaves room to think he gave the interview. Nevertheless, evidence and facts of the President’s crime may be hidden within his silence... In conclusion: An interview by Berisha in the form of a statement, Mr. Alia’s silence unto death, and a people demanding to know the truth. Who will emerge stronger?!... ... could ...? ... someone would translate it. ... RAMIZ, KALNOKY was not there. As Then, since the matter concerned facts and evidence from Mr. Sali against the President, I waited to see whether the parliament or at least the special committee on laws would meet urgently and begin a criminal investigation of the President. That way, Mr. Sali would not need to tire himself out demanding his resignation at rallies; he could do it perfectly well by presenting the evidence and facts to Parliament and the Supreme Court. The President would then end up in a prison cell. Perhaps not in Burrel, but somewhere ... the infamous Burrel prison, but someone, since Albania had been a prison. I say this because, among the few laws passed by our Parliament, there is also an article concerning the President. What greater act of treason could he commit ... President of the Republic Alia ...? by collaborating with the enemy ... the bitter enemy of the Albanian people and ...? in particular? What more could ...? than by being ...? Slobodan? What should ...? more than he, than ...? the Albanians, by ...? against the Fatherland and the President? ...? Berisha wants the President to go to ... prison? Of course not. ... Mr. Berisha has not answered about the interview, nor has he presented the evidence of treason to Parliament... Nothing is happening to the President, ... ...? ... when we talk about a democratic state...? ...? N. Lesi: If evidence is presented that the President is a traitor to his nation, for crimes he has committed or is preparing, what does the law provide? R. Gjata: His presidential mandate is revoked. Naturally, as soon as convincing evidence is presented. A special parliamentary commission is established. Criminal proceedings against the President begin. Then the trial... N. Lesi: In Mr. Sali Berisha’s case, what should be done in practice? R. Gjata: I am not aware of the facts he has stated. But if it is as you say, then Mr. Sali must present them to Parliament. First of all, he is a member of parliament, and then a leader for... ... to translate it. ... is no need to proclaim innocence. Subjective wishes, private opinions, insults are not arguments, at least for a serious person». So, an open appeal, somewhat implicit, to Mr. Sali to present evidence of high treason. Sali is silent. The President is silent. Whom should we believe? I thought I would end the article with silence too, with «neither fish nor fowl», but the same thought is boiling inside me again: Should we enter Europe with a traitor president, an agent of the Serbs, someone who demands the rights of the Kosovo people while at the same time plotting bloodshed on behalf of Slobodan!? Absolutely not! Let us be delayed a little longer, but let our President truly be a democrat. With this

FOR THE ATTENTION OF: THE PRESIDENT, PARLIAMENT, THE PRIME MINISTER. NEO-UNIT 326 IN ACTION On Saturday, October 5, like many other citizens, I was waiting for a car at «Zogu i zi» in Tirana, to return to Lezhë. At 14:30 a «Ford» car with license plate TR 02376 arrived and stopped nearby. Many citizens hurried toward the car and asked where it was going. There were several civilians and a policeman in the car; the policeman got out and walked away from it. Tired from the long wait, the citizens continued asking where the car was headed. Meanwhile, a young man came over and asked where the car was going. One of the civilians inside got out and threatened the young man, asking why he had opened the door. The young man answered calmly: — The door was open. Civilian: — Get lost now, or I’ll put something… Young man: — Why, brother, what did I do to you? And anyway, who are you? Civilian: — Who am I? — And suddenly, without any reaction, he hit the young man in the face with a punch. Several citizens intervened to separate them, among them Muhamet Bilali from Lezha and Pjetër Pretashi, a mechanical engineering student. Meanwhile, like enraged beasts, all the other civilians got out of the car and surrounded the young man, punching him in the face, chest and back. As if their fists were not enough, they began a barrage of kicks, in the most inhuman way, striking him all over. We could have seen such a scene only in news footage of Serbian police beating Kosovo students. One of the beasts had grabbed the young man by the hair with both hands, while another punched him in the face with all his strength, and another hit him in the back. The poor boy, with almost his entire face covered in blood, was shouting and groaning in the hands of the enraged beasts. These brutalities. Two student girls accompanying him, who were also waiting for a car, Majlinda Gjini and Gentjana Gjini, began screaming and clung to the body of the assaulted young man. Women with children ran away. Men hesitated to intervene. Traffic came to a halt. Others asked: was he a thief, a criminal, or had they found an unlicensed weapon on him? Those who witnessed the incident told the raging beasts that he had done nothing. The beasts: — «Keep quiet, or you’ll get the same as him!» Eventually, after the beasts grew tired and there was no part of the boy’s body left unhit, they dropped him to the ground, got into the car and drove off. I came closer and saw the bloodied boy lying on the ground, groaning: Oh mother! Oh mother! But his mother could not hear him. She was far away. Unable to believe what had happened to the boy, I asked his student friend Pjetër Pretaj what the name was of the young man battered by the (anti-)Albanian beasts. EDMOND SHAMETI. A student at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. From Gjirokastra. The others were wiping the blood from him. But it was not long before the beasts returned, and as soon as they stopped, they rushed toward the boy with incredible speed. The screams began again. The beasts grabbed him by the hair and dragged him toward the car. The girls, screaming, would not let go of the boy’s body. The beasts took them too and put them in the car. They drove off. Everyone was outraged by this act. People felt sorry for the «criminal» boy, who had only asked, «Where is the car going?» Muhamet Bilali from Lezha, deeply indignant, said to me: Aleksandër. Do you have your press card with you? — Yes, I replied. — Will you come with me to the police station to clarify what happened? — Certainly, I said, and the two of us set off for the police station near the Yugoslav Embassy. At the gate we found the two girls crying and the other student. We asked to see the station chief or deputy chief. We went inside. At the room where visitors were received, I knocked on a plywood hatch. It opened. Who are you looking for? they asked us. — The chief or deputy chief. A person answered with a ... What happened? — We are two citizens from Lezhë, I said. I am a journalist and this friend is a worker. We witnessed the incident that happened at Zogu i Zi. And then? — the policeman said. We wanted to clarify what happened. «Oh,» he replied, «go write it in the newspaper!» And he slammed the hatch shut so forcefully that it almost caught my head inside. We left feeling insulted. I had not expected this response from the forces responsible for maintaining public order and peace in the Republic of Albania. If they had been Serbs, perhaps. We returned to Zogu i Zi. We were so shaken that we could not even flag down cars. I remember the poor student, covered in blood, and his groans: him. Her «criminal» son, who was later released, had disturbed the peace by asking where that car was going! His groans still echo in my ears; in my conscience they are transcribed as an appeal to the President, Parliament and Government to stop the black hand of the pseudo-Albanian neo-fascists.

President of the Republic Alia ...?

The President of the Republic shall be dismissed or released before the end of his term only when: a) He has committed the crime of treason against the Fatherland or has violated the law.