People with intellectual disabilities, including children, are abducted from Albania to supply specialized organ-transplant clinics in Italy and Greece. Their families in Albania are said to consider them missing. The Albanian Embassy has made no inquiries of the Greek authorities to date. (Read on page 3)

The former editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha Jonë», Aleksandër Frangaj, will go to trial on Friday.

The BBC reports on the financial scandal in which former Albanian state officials have been implicated. They are accused of taking bribes connected with aid from the Italian government allocated to Albania. Ramiz Alia declares: «This is a banal fabrication». (Read on page 3)

Albania—You will not remain al-

The former editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha Jonë» will finally go to trial. The presiding judge The former editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha Jonë», Aleksandër Frangaj, will go to trial on Friday. Will he be declared innocent or sentenced by the new democratic state? Let us await the court’s decision, which will be held in Lezhë at 10:00. The Swedish Helsinki Committee comments on this matter. (Read on page 2)

As the Holy Father stepped down from the plane to kiss and bless Albanian soil, the journalists’ bus had approached Shkodër, where the Pope was to celebrate Holy Mass in the Cathedral of the northern city. The many people who had come from who-knows-where kept pushing toward the front rows, where the order guards, drenched in sweat, struggled to hold them back. Along the entire route, greetings to the Holy Father had been put up, written in Albanian and Italian. Everywhere there were Vatican and Albanian flags, while on the road to the Cathedral stood three large flags: the Albanian flag, that of the Vatican, and the American flag, the latter once again ubiquitous. In the empty space of the square, between the people and the Cathedral, the luckiest ones (continued on page 5)

It is regrettable that those who call themselves radicals in Albania do not know well what this word means, and if they equate it with the word murder or persecution, then let them equate their own name with that of criminals. Because in a human society, no one can live subjected to violence. Today Albania has no need for mass crime, expressed in whatever form, but for true radicalism, represented solely by the integral revolution. Read on page 3 by ROALD NASHI

The former editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Koha Jonë» will finally stand trial. [Top portion of the headline is cut off] to stand trial stand trial. The presiding judge in the case against Aleksandër Frangaj, Mr. Arben Ristani, set the trial date. It will take place on Friday at 10⁰⁰ in the courtroom of the Lezhë District Court. Aleksandër Frangaj, 24, a student and journalist, has been under house arrest for more than a month on the absurd charge brought by the Ministry of Defense of publishing false news that spreads panic. As everyone knows, the reason for Frangaj’s arrest was the publication of a report about tanks moving toward the North. The Ministry of Defense completely and publicly denied this report on television. But a day later, the spokesperson for this Ministry confirmed to the French news agency AFP that tanks had moved in the direction of the North. So on Friday, at 10⁰⁰, Aleksandër will stand face to face with the state, and with the Ministry of Defense, which in this case is pursuing the charge in question. It should be emphasized that this trial of a journalist is taking place at a time when there is no press law in Albania. This trial is taking place at a time when former communist leaders are being accused in Eastern Europe, while in Albania the red caste has not yet been brought to justice. This trial is being held against a young man, the head of an independent and free newspaper, which has contributed to Albania’s new democracy. This trial will also be a test for the democratic state itself, established after the March 22 elections. Will this state respect individual freedoms and rights, freedom of the press and information, human dignity, tolerance, and democracy? Let us await the outcome of the trial of Aleksandër Frangaj, which is taking place five days after the Pope’s visit to Albania. Editorial office address: «Siri Kodra» Street, No. 160. TIRANË.

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61 journalists killed and 123 imprisoned during 1992 alone. (According to AFP) (READ ON PAGE 6)