The President of the Republic de facto declares a state of emergency. Soldiers: We will not shoot at the people Rallies and protests in Tirana, Vlorë, Korçë, Shkodër, Fier. Two dead in Kavajë PD cancels the counter-rally in front of the Socialist headquarters. USA: Appeal for calm

The road ends here; beyond it begins the abyss where Albania can no longer be found, not even with heads. The PD, led by Sali Berisha, brought it here, but it can only be stopped here. Albania has burned twice under the PD; the first time when it came to power, and the second now, as it is leaving. It is enough, even for the most insatiable in terror. Stop! You see, rulers! No one wants you anymore. The people burned the symbols and the unfortunate buildings bearing the PD emblem. In the street, the people accused the President of being a thief and the government of being predatory. The Deputy Prime Minister decided to answer to the people. Albanians are taking revenge because their votes were stolen, and then their pockets too. Now nothing is left. Both sides: the rulers and the ruled stand face to face, empty-handed. The people have been stripped of everything. Their hope was stolen, their aspiration for democracy, the votes of May 26. Before that, all the sweat shed for 50 consecutive years had been stolen from them, put into the pockets of a few people in the government’s nepotistic scheme. The government left crime free, and it caused thousands of human corpses. Hundreds of thousands of Albanians cursed their own land because you were present, and they were scattered across the world or into the waters of the seas. Now they have returned again, facing their so-called government, fiercely, empty-handed. And the government itself is just as empty. It has lost 260 million dollars from the budget balance; it has stolen about one and a half billion dollars from the people through fraudulent schemes, in payments for manipulating the political elections and for eliminating the opposition. The Western world has stopped every step toward Albania. The Albanian government does not enjoy the legitimacy of the people, just as Parliament is only the product of Sude or VEFA. In mid-April, the President also closes the legitimate chapter. The only thing the government and the President have in hand is the weapon. They have also put the weapon into use, by installing a state of emergency. How much more can the extraordinary health condition of these Albanian lands endure such a capricious government state of emergency?! Where are you going now? You will all go to hell! Albania, unaccustomed to democratic behavior, has understood hell, and now it stands face to face with the force of the government. Berisha’s government, as it seems, has sworn to resist by force. Today, under the frenzied calls of some PD militants, it has been summoned to organize a rally against the PS headquarters, an act that could mark civil war in Albania. The tension is hanging by Berisha’s slender threads; like all people with cool heads and sound reason, opposition leaders, non-governmental institutions and intellectuals are seeking dialogue and agreement. Western institutions and the American government are calling for an end to the tension and for a round table of talks to begin in Albania. It is not only an honor, but also the duty of the government to act before the will of the people. Resignation means peace and a chance for peace for both sides. This too is in the hands of the President of the Republic, who has become known as the patriot with the word of the state.” Here, rein in the horse, Mr. Berisha; this is the only good thing left. FRROK ÇUPI

On Sunday during the protests in Skënderbej Square in Tirana Photo: Reuter

A lever above the head of one of the leaders of the PS. Ndre Legisi, the former opposition MP, while returning to his home near the center of the capital, was beaten to death last night. “Skull fracture, four deep wounds to the head” — this was the tragic balance given from the mouth of one of the doctors in the Emergency department at the Military Hospital. The event happened last night at 21:00, when, while heading to his home near the PSD headquarters, a few meters from Hotel “Arbëria”. Legisi was struck on the head by several unknown individuals with iron bars. The former student of December ’90, after handing in an article to the “ZP” editorial office, had decided to travel alone, when he fell in the middle of the road after the barbaric blows. A lecturer at the Agricultural University of Kamza was passing by at that moment in his car, when he saw a man lying on the roadside, covered in blood. He stopped and tried to give first aid, when, in agony, the injured man managed to say only these words: “I am Ndre Legisi, some civilians hit me with iron bars.” Immediately the lecturer took the half-lifeless body of the former MP to transport him (Continues on page 14) ALFRED PEZA

Soon after the PD rally in Tirana, where Ylli Vejsiu and others demanded the immediate closure of the newspaper “Koha Jonë”, late last night people in cars without license plates came to the newspaper’s editorial offices and threatened that “we will kill you, we will blow up the editorial office.” Immediately afterward, unidentified people called by phone and spoke with the same threatening language. After this, three police patrols from Police Station No. 1 were placed on standby; they took the editorial office of the newspaper “Koha Jonë” under protection, behaving correctly and kindly toward the journalists of “Koha Jonë”.

On Sunday during the protests in Skënderbej Square in Tirana Photo: Reuter