Bandits who cooperate with the justice system to capture criminal groups have half or all of their sentences forgiven Parliament adapts the law on Italian and American Mafia informants for Albanian criminals Page 3

At long last, Parliament has remembered to address the problems of public order and the punishment of crime. The imposition of harsher sentences for serious crimes, amendments to the legislative package known as “Anti-Crime and Anti-Smuggling,” which was struck down last year by the Constitutional Court, and the creation of separate provisions in the Criminal Code for several serious crimes were yesterday’s menu for parliamentarians. But not everything served up yesterday was “swallowed.” The review of the law on the use of firearms and consideration of a decision made several weeks ago by Interior Minister Çeka, authorizing police to shoot criminals without warning, did not take place yesterday. Luan Hajdaraga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Order and SHIK, was not in Parliament yesterday. He had left for Macedonia, having been added to the delegation at the last minute, and his absence from the chamber yesterday meant that the police’s most urgent requests were not considered, even though they had been included on the agenda. Thus, after crime had taken over the country and seriously threatened the state—the part of it that has managed to get on its feet so far—the people who make the laws only found time yesterday to discuss imposing restrictive measures. But better late than never. The “Anti-Crime and Anti-Corruption Legislative Package,” with several revisions, has returned to the scene. The laws in this package prescribed mandatory sentences for a range of serious criminal offenses, prompting a response from the Albanian Helsinki Committee, which asked the Constitutional Court to repeal it. But the high level of crime and its increasingly aggressive scale have made it necessary. The alarm bells have been ringing for a long time. People are killed every day, cafés and cars are robbed every hour, and masked men have become “traffic police.” One day, the police found themselves in such a position that they could not even protect themselves, let alone the public. Crime became a state of its own, even more powerful than the state itself. And lately, terrorism has appeared on the scene, in all its forms and manifestations. But the deputies had not had time to deal with these matters, even though they had an armed population and a level of criminality unlike that of any other country. Nevertheless, yesterday they sat down and amended several articles of the Criminal Code, imposing harsher penalties on drug traffickers, smugglers, child kidnappers, criminal masterminds, and other forms of crime. The police have still not been given an answer by those reviewing the law as to whether they should be allowed to shoot at bandits without first warning them. MENTOR KIKIA

Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano and his Macedonian counterpart Crvenkovski photo: Reuter Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano and his Macedonian counterpart Crvenkovski — photo: Reuter

The Ministry of the Interior held its annual review Head of the secret service: “There is solid evidence that police officials are involved in trafficking. The list of names is on the desks of the department’s senior officials.” Nasip Naço, director of SHIR, said at yesterday’s annual review of the Ministry of the Interior, attended by all police directors and police station chiefs, that “the department’s secret service directorate has information and solid evidence that some officials are involved in smuggling or other dirty dealings. According to him, ‘the list of names and evidence concerning these accusations will soon arrive on the desks of the senior officials of the Ministry of the Interior, although the latter have already been informed in this way.’” Page 7

Antagonism undone. Parliament changes the law State Security returns Page 4 The PD National Council makes no decision on returning Even Chirac: PD in Parliament Page 5 Albanian agents travel to “terrorist” states SHIK in pursuit of terrorism Page 2 Investigations into cigarette smuggling. The ship awaits seizure After “Demon,” big names Page 6 Shkodër — Havari, absent for 5 days, confusion in the police Director’s delay, crime is rising Page 10