Koçi: “Political circles want destabilization on the eve of the elections” Page 9

BY BLENDI FEVZIU Repeated acts of violence were recorded yesterday in the criminal police bulletins in several districts of the country. Unfortunately, yesterday’s events were not isolated episodes of the kind that also occur in countries with stability and an established rule of law. On the contrary, yesterday’s events added several more entries to the blacklist of murders, thefts and robberies that has become part of Albanians’ lives in recent months. This long list, which ends every day with the standard words “the perpetrators fled in an unknown direction,” seems to have brought a new dimension to Albanians’ lives. At present, we must be the only country in the world (excluding those at war) where law and order do not exist, and their nonexistence has become part of everyday life. Comparisons with Colombia, Palermo or other icons of international crime are completely misplaced. In Colombia or Palermo there is a powerful Mafia; criminal organizations rival the state to protect the drug trade or other trafficking operations. Organizations such as Escobar’s in Cali, Colombia, turn into a state within a state, possessing powerful weapons, armored vehicles and even helicopters. But in none of these places does it happen that even minimal order is absent from the main cities; that citizens feel unsafe in the streets, or that the police officer has no authority at all. From this perspective, we must be the only country in the world where the population is held hostage by petty criminals and the police cannot bring to heel a few hundred people who steal, rob or kill to make enough money for their meals and dinner, or to buy fuel for their luxury cars. The battle against street criminals—a battle the law-enforcement forces have lost so far—has turned Albania into a country where the 24 hours of a day are split in half: people live for 12 hours during the day; for the other 12, at night, life comes to a standstill, movement on the streets ceases, and people shut themselves inside their homes, protected by reinforced doors. It is especially hard to expect anything better in a country where the state cannot cope not only with organized crime, but not even with a few amateur gangs breaking the rules right beneath the windows of the Minister of Public Order’s office.

Deputy Prime Minister attacks “Koha Jonë” At long last, Ilir Meta has launched an all-out attack on the newspaper “Koha Jonë,” using all the state institutions under his authority. Last week, he ordered the Telecommunications Regulatory Entity (ERT) and the General Directorate of Customs not to allow any equipment for private TV stations to enter Albanian territory without first obtaining licenses—even though, under the law, the licenses are issued once the equipment is in place. In other words, this was an open maneuver by him to block the arrival of equipment for the news studio of the private television station “TV KOHA,” an affiliate of “Koha Jonë.” So Meta’s whole scheme became clear, at a time when the institutions mentioned above had broken the law, since the private company importing the equipment only has to pay customs duties and needs no other permit, contrary to what Meta demands. Naturally, this is also a private-sector competition ploy, but the Deputy Prime Minister took the final arbitrary step, just like Blerim Çela once did. Then Meta threatened MP Nikollë Lesi with his thugs; Lesi is also the publisher of “Koha Jonë.” The next day, he “ordered” the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Koçi, to “protect Lesi’s life.” Just like a bona fide mafioso. Unsated by his initial attacks, Meta again ordered state institutions that “no document or information should be given to ‘Koha Jonë’”; yesterday, through the Minister of Finance, he sent a large inspection team to investigate everything connected with the newspaper “Koha Jonë”—at customs, the tax office, the printing house where the paper is printed, Social Security, and those state institutions or enterprises that have placed advertisements in the newspaper that has disturbed his peace and his chance to seize 250 thousand dollars. Those present at the Prime Minister’s Office heard the Deputy Prime Minister say: “I’ll teach the newspaper a good lesson so it never recovers!” In light of these absurd, spiteful actions by this arrogant Deputy Prime Minister, the journalists of “Koha Jonë” believe that the course chosen by “Majko’s right-hand man” is wrong and does not reflect the government’s policy of maintaining good relations with the independent press. THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF “KOHA JONË” Pandeli Majko, Fatos Klosi and Rexhep Meidani

Shkodër explosion Passengers miraculously escaped; weapon on the couch page 11