The Gazidede scandals
Where did the 700 thousand USD go and how was the hotel of the Albanian agents burned down
(Pages 3, 7)
The bad year is over
It is a year of war, a year full of breaches of order and the seizure of gold, murders, injuries, relations and parliamentary elections and constitutional solutions. This 1997 goes down in history as the worst year the Albanian state has ever experienced. But the regions cracked as they did in '97 and gangs of depraved people all over the country became dominant. What happened to this state was not simply a killing madness, but a great tragic explosion.
From a spark to hell it took only an instant. In January the government announced successes in the economy. On the 6th, one month after the unrest in Lushnje, the new government headed by Aleksandër Meksi was presented with great fanfare. Tirana was proudly declared the capital. Vora was filled with mockery. Gjirokastra lost its Olympic calm. For that reason the first anti-scenarios also appeared and increased day by day.
Unrest from the municipal side, Lushnja and Surrel were cut by rural bridges. Tirana was given a name by Bujar Bukoshi. Durrës was left without a ferry. Shkodra became the center of connections with the north. Librazhd was crumbled by the mountain pass road. Berat, Kavaja, Fier and Delvina became dirty provinces from the fire. Vlora turned into a volcano. Elbasan, Korça and Tropoja filled the cities with armed people. Përmet and Tepelena were seen in smoke. Kamza approached the capital like a nobody. Mallakastër was mentioned for the armed bands. Kruja began to tremble. Lezha was closed. Kukës was silent. Saranda was plunged into fog. Gramsh woke up with weapons.
In these conditions, this bad year, which as rarely before has risen above the wounds of a people, left us a bloody and hungry year. Its end did not bring a clear conclusion, but left an uncertainty that will accompany Albania for a long time.
'98, hopes have not died
President Rexhep Meidani speaks with journalists at "Van Wes" Photo GENTI SHKULLAKU
The living New Year causes tragedy in Tirana
Massacre in Lushnje
4 people from the same family killed with a Kalashnikov; the perpetrator's father: "He did it"
Another major scandal in SHIK[?]. Another SHIK man has left. A whole family has left too. The fire in the hotel of the agents in Lundër also remains unnamed. It seems not just like an accident, but like a surrender with losses and a total leak. Likewise, some documents have been found for funds that nobody knows where they went. The accounts are scandalously unjustified and only the story of the disappearance of 700 thousand dollars demands explanations.
(The article on pages 3 and 7)