I have spent 30 years of my life in the press. To write about this means of communication, which has taken up roughly two thirds of my life, is a challenge and a risk. When I brought to mind some events that happened recently, I decided to stick to that popular saying: "When you are beaten, respect the enemy." I had the teacher as a child and the sound of the teacher's voice in my ears. The flurry of improper actions carried out against me by institutions, as I am the editor-in-chief of the daily "Koha Jonë", forced me to write this piece. After leaving the central organ of the Party, where I worked for nearly 5 years, I was assigned as a journalist at television. Contrary to what was spread around, this was not a transfer, but a regular appointment. I went to television through a competition, with documents, and not through political favors. Throughout what followed, I had to face a series of blows and distortions of the truth. As everyone knows, television was one of the most sensitive institutions of that time. I tried to do the job with professional correctness. But very soon a different climate began. They did not like my style of writing, nor my insistence on not submitting to unjust orders. It seemed as if what was wanted was a silent, obedient person, without personality. I was not like that. Later, when we founded this newspaper, many of those prejudices and attacks returned. Intrigues, slander, gossip, biographical distortions and even unworthy accusations against a press worker were used. Some of these came to me from people I had known as colleagues. And yet, I did not lose faith in the profession or in the reader. In a country that seeks to build democracy, freedom of speech is fundamental. Without it there is neither a true opposition, nor a responsible government, nor free citizens. When the truth is distorted, not only the journalist is harmed, but also the public who has the right to be informed correctly. Today, more than ever, I feel it necessary to say that journalism is not the craft of servility. It is a public mission. Those who seek to use it as a party loudspeaker or as a means of pressure do harm to the country. No one should be afraid of a newspaper that tells the truth. That is why I am returning to the facts. Not to complain, but to bear witness. Not to ask for mercy, but to defend a principle: the truth. And when you write about the truth, you must be ready to pay a price. Lulëzim Nela[?] (continued on page 4)

Remind me how much money they have stolen... The judges of Durrës steal. Who judges them? Remind me how much money they have stolen?[?] It was the first year of the democratic process and the so-called "free specialists" began to "pounce" on everything Albanian, especially on state institutions. It became fashionable to anathematize everything from the past. For people in the justice system, this attack also took insulting forms. This spirit also affected the judicial system in Durrës. Some individuals, taking advantage of the confusion of the time, began to appropriate property and to use the name of the law for private interest. Serious accusations were levelled against judges and officials. We ask: who judges the judges when they are suspected of stealing? We will refer to the facts, files and names, as they emerge from our sources. We do not intend to create sensation, but to demand public accountability. Durrës cannot be an exception to legal responsibility. (continued on page 4)

1 March 1992, a central position... 1 March 1992, In a fragmentary reflection, which includes political memories and meditations on the moment, the author raises the question of what would happen if the Communist Party won the elections. With strong polemical tones, he describes the possible consequences for the country, for the opposition and for the daily life of citizens. The text takes the form of a political and moral warning in the face of a decisive historical moment. Fears are described about the return of old control, about the suppression of freedoms, about isolation and about the revival of the methods of a regime that Albanians had only just begun to leave behind. At the center are the elections, propaganda, psychological violence and the need for citizens to make an informed choice. (continued on page 4)

1- Interview with the Secretary General of the PSD, Mr. LISEN BASHKURTI, given to our editor ALEKSANDËR ÇIPA. 2- Visit to the country of capitals — Italy 3- MONIKA ZGU, poet, actress, politician or... ? (By Niko Llesi and Daniel Gazulli). 4. Interview with the caricaturist Lika Rakova given to Mr. Zef Luca.

On this day the Pope again issued stern statements against the promotion and publication of pornographic material in the Italian house of commercialism. He called for the strictest ban on this activity in Catholic terms, describing it as an insult to women, a harm to the character of the young, a service to selfishness and an incitement by the bosses of the press to make money.

Much talk of manipulation and checks arose from the dismissal of Dema Zeka, after the sudden transfer of the newspaper to Albania. Mr. Dema, through the newspaper "Kosovo" of silver, stated that the denunciations and the reaction of its administrative meeting had come from a high authority in the Ministry of Transport. In an unprecedented reaction, with harsh notes, he mentioned the name of the person appointed to that post, which has surprised public opinion. It is thought that this development has had a direct consequence also in the decision to dismiss him after the complaint to the court.