The day after tomorrow, the day Berisha is to be summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office as a defendant, unrest is expected. Page 2 The Prime Minister gives the police a firm order not to use force against the Democratic leader on Friday Majko: Berisha must not be arrested The day after tomorrow, when Berisha is due to be summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office as a defendant, unrest is expected Page 2

BY FATOS BAXHAKU Editor-in-chief of TV Klan Death for death. This is the latest slogan being heard not only in the modest homes of Albanians, battered and blackened by brutal violence, but also in political circles. Now, after many, many disappointments, a new formula has appeared on the scene: only the death penalty can banish fear from our daily lives; otherwise... There is no need for historians or other learned people, who still “lose their way” among books made obsolete by time, to testify that death is an old traveling companion of Albanians. Death has taken up its place not only during the years of “democratic Albania”; it is one of the most frequently mentioned names in Albania throughout our entire history. How can death be wiped from the face of the Albanian earth? How can it be kept ever farther away from ordinary Albanians? The answer to this question has been, and will remain, a political cripple. As with everything in Albania, even the strongest relationship—that between life and death—must be decided by politicians, that is, by people to whom we have chosen to delegate such a right, without knowing whether or not they deserve it. So can these people decide our future fate? Politicians think they should decide. It is part of their profession. One group among them, the Republican leaders, has decided to play the death-penalty card forcefully. According to Godos, Mediu, and the other Republican leaders, there is only one solution to resolve Albania’s greatest problem, crime: consultation [sic] with death. Whoever has killed must die. Thus the death penalty, despite the slogans associated with today’s Europe, must continue to operate in Albania. The heaviest political establishment, with a clever political move, with a clever political move, (Continued on page 3)

A student on hunger strike heading to the ambulance after his condition worsened

The festival stage set has been covered with Albanian newspapers In the most humiliating manner, Ardian Klosi, who has been Director General of Albanian RTV for several days, has devised the set for the Song Festival using newspapers from across the media spectrum. They will be laid out on the floor and stepped on by the singers, presenters, and orchestra members. This is Klosi’s revenge on the press, which has criticized him for his incompetence and the eunuch-like quality of his ideas for the television station he runs. The hysteria of the Director General, this Don Quixotic man of our times, this “intellectual” who, while in Germany, published in German an album filled with photographs of his German(woman) [sic], featuring some of the most commonplace scenes from this suffering country, yet one full of dignity and a desire to become civilized. By exploiting the power of television and the festival stage, Director Klosi thinks he will vent all his fury against the print media, which remains one of this country’s most valuable achievements during the years of pluralism, even though the press has made mistakes that can nevertheless be corrected. The devilish idea of covering the festival stage with newspapers so that everyone can walk all over them is insulting not only to journalists, but also to the readers of every newspaper, whether left-wing or right-wing, independent or semi-independent. It would be just like throwing Edi Rama’s paintings or one of Ardian Klosi’s books onto the floor of the stage; although they may not be as accomplished as they should be, they still deserve respect and should not be trampled underfoot, not even by the lovely legs of the festival’s two presenters, Hygerta Sakos and Inis Gjoni. If the festival organizers do not abandon this devilish and offensive set design, then the newspaper “Koha Jonë,” in protest, will not cover the festival, and calls on other newspapers to join in such a protest, which seeks to preserve the press’s dignity. The “KOHA JONË” Editorial Office

Article 6 should have been signed at the beginning of this year Page 5

The Finance Minister’s replies return to micro- and macroeconomics Page 7