Yesterday at the military airfield in Gjadër 15 JUNE 1995. A giant transport aircraft lands at the far end of the runway at Gjadër airport, in the north. Military trucks loaded with weapons immediately approach it. Loading begins at speed. A large part of the Albanian soldiers on duty turn into loading workers. The aircraft’s huge belly can never get enough. The trucks take turns one after another. A little farther away, some soldiers are playing football. From their unconcerned attitude toward what is happening, you can tell this is a routine sight. “In fact, this scene has been repeated for more than a month,” says one of the soldiers. The villagers around there are not impressed by the “giant visitor.” They are busy with the wheat and sage spread out over the reserve runway. Their indifference is such that they are not at all alarmed when a crate of ammunition accidentally falls to the ground from a height of two metres. Grenades scatter everywhere. The two Ukrainian pilots, seated on the porthanas near the front of the aircraft, lie down on the ground in fear, while our soldiers collect the grenades two at a time and put them back in the crate. After this underestimated danger, it is the turn of a machine gun, then a bundle of “Kalashnikovs,” and so on without end. Does Albania really have so many weapons and so much ammunition? The aircraft that landed yesterday afternoon at Gjadër airfield, being loaded with Kalashnikovs, grenades, etc. Photo B. GJERGJI “...4 English pilots publicly stated that they had made 4 charter flights carrying grenades, rifles, and Russian- and Chinese-type ammunition from Tirana to Zaire’s Gomes airport. One pilot told Amnesty International, ‘I brought 36.5 tons of weapons at night. Our company has made several flights from Albania to Gomes airport. The suppliers who gave us the weapons were reportedly officials. The English Boeing 707 aircraft were registered as Nigerian and Ghanaian.’ (page 2) BESMIR GJERGJI The aircraft that landed yesterday afternoon at Gjadër airfield, being loaded with Kalashnikovs, grenades, etc. Photo B. GJERGJI

The attacker of the American Marine DURRES — 12 months in prison for the man who shot at the American Marine. The Durrës Court yesterday sentenced Armir Dervishi, who on 27 January this year had wounded an American soldier for trivial reasons. Dervishi will therefore have seven more months of his sentence to serve, since he has already served five months in pre-trial detention. Nevertheless, lawyer Hima insists on his request for a reduced sentence and tells the newspaper Koha Jonë, “I will appeal to the Court of Appeal.” (page 2)

The hesitation of the justice authorities over the retrial of the Nano case (page 3)

The employees of Hotel “Drini” are forcefully demanding a meeting with the President (page 4)

— The police chief, an iron hand that crushes

“The issue at the Tirana Court was resolved with political bias” Yesterday at midday, Ramiz Alia’s case file was sent from the Tirana Court to the Court of Appeal. “The Tirana District Court rejected our request with an arbitrary, unlawful and illogical decision.” These are the words that open Ramiz Alia’s appeal against the decision of 10 June 1995 by the capital’s court. Lawyer Koçi tells “KI”: “We are very insistent about what is due to us. Keeping my client in prison any longer is not in the honour of the Albanian justice system.” Alia’s appeal to the Court of Appeal also sets out the deficiencies in the first-instance trial. The record concerning the serving of the sentence was not admitted as evidence. For other convicts who were released after the new Penal Code came into force, the calculations were based on the Court of Appeal’s ruling and not on the Court of Cassation’s ruling, as was done in this case. Nevertheless, we must wait until a date is set and the case is heard to learn Alia’s future fate. The duel between the arguments of the prison administration, which says he will be released in March 1996, and lawyer Koçi, who says “former president Alia has now been unjustly held in prison for 50 days,” has moved up a level. A.PEZA