BY FRROK ÇUPI The bloc of nepotism in the governance of Albania is not breaking up. The bloc of the communist system and the bloc of today’s democratic system are the same. Only the names of the members of the bloc have changed. We have the right to ask: Could it be that some are using the nationwide anti-communist movement for democratic change in Albania as a coup d’état to create a governing bloc? As can be seen, the people’s democratic aspirations have been betrayed. (Let us read the two articles once again, the article from 1991 and the article from 1993. Is there any difference?) (READ ON PAGE 3)

BY ALEKSANDER FRANGAJ

Dismissals at the Lezhë District Prosecutor’s Office and Court EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FRANGAJ AGAIN FACING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION

Yesterday the street between the Agimi apartment blocks in Tirana was filled with police officers and their vehicles. Law-enforcement officers had been ordered to forcibly remove from their homes several citizens who had moved into a recently built apartment building. At around 1 p.m., the police operation was still under way, while the pile of belongings, furniture, televisions, sofas, and so on in the street kept growing. The women cried and loudly cursed, while the children silently shed tears before their parents, who this time were powerless. They had no home anymore; they were out on the street and did not understand why all this was happening. As he carried his belongings down from the third floor, assisted by the police officers, Misir Kurti told us: “Until just a few hours ago, I was living here with my wife and two children, in a one-room-and-kitchen apartment. I moved in with authorization from the council. I worked for two years straight without a break, starting from the foundations, and I bought the construction materials myself...” The authorization issued by the Provisional Pluralist People’s Council of Neighborhood No. 25 gave these citizens the right to move into these homes, but they were also supposed to sign a contract. The authorization is dated 16.04.1992 and is signed by the chairman, Skënder Reçi. M. Kurti explains that the Construction Enterprise of the Ministry of Public Order refused to sign a contract with them. The building in question has only 10 families, and so far five of them have been evicted. According to Hysen Zaimi, only the families of workers without connections have been evicted; he says that he himself is being thrown out onto the street because he is from Skrapar. H. Zaimi adds that he has lived there for a year and has done all the work entirely by himself. In the morning, he says, five police minibuses arrived and forced me to leave, but I have nowhere to go and am forced to stay here, in the middle of the street. This extremely dramatic situation was made even worse by the torrential rain that suddenly began. The people were out in the street, while the belongings they had acquired through hard work and by scrimping on food were at risk of being ruined. Dhurata Hoxholli, a resident of the fifth floor who had been evicted along with her husband and two young children, wept continuously and prayed to God to protect her children. Still crying, she told us: “Nobody thinks of us or feels sorry for us (continued on page 2) ARMAND SHKULLAKU

NATIONAL LIBRARY TIRANA

Dismissals at the Lezhë District Prosecutor’s Office and Court This time for “Dissemination of state secrets” DEPUTY PROSECUTOR OF THE REPUBLIC VASIL PLAKU HAS STATED: “BY ORDER OF PRESIDENT BERISHA, THE CASE OF ALEKSANDËR FRANGAJ IS TO BE SENT FOR TRIAL IN THE SECOND INSTANCE” — READ ON PAGE 2 — FRANGAJ AGAIN FACING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION This time for “Dissemination of state secrets” DEPUTY PROSECUTOR OF THE REPUBLIC VASIL PLAKU HAS STATED: “BY ORDER OF PRESIDENT BERISHA, THE CASE OF ALEKSANDËR FRANGAJ IS TO BE SENT FOR TRIAL IN THE SECOND INSTANCE” — READ ON PAGE 2 —