Accusation against the police too: Those whom we ask them to arrest, they help escape Agim Tirana and Bilbil Mete, the leading figures in the General Prosecutor’s Office, make public accusations at a seminar on economic crime pages 16–17 The helicopter that crashed yesterday in the village of Ndroq, Tirana photo REUTERS

The “occupation” by law-enforcement forces in the city of Shkodër of the courthouse, in protest against the corruption that has overwhelmed the Albanian justice system, would mark the beginning of a clash between these two state institutions, with mutual accusations of corruption—a clash whose duration and outcome are unknown. But before the echoes of the Shkodër police officers’ action had died away, representatives of the justice system accused police structures of the same thing, namely corruption. In truth, given the realities of these years, both sides’ accusations are entirely justified. In Albania there are corrupt judges and prosecutors, but also police officers affected by this disease. Certainly, not everyone can be tarred with the same brush. There is no shortage of honest police officers and judges, of course, but the problem is that they are totally overwhelmed by the corrupt. This, as well as the flourishing of corruption in both the justice system and the police—the most important institutions in the fight against crime—is a direct consequence of politics, of corrupt politicians. Specifically, at yesterday’s seminar on economic crime, representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office openly accused politicians of “running the cell-phone smuggling trade,” something that has in fact been known for a long time. It is enough to mention the fact that even “an kader” for important positions in the police and customs, not to mention the justice system, are arranged in political circles, for which sums of up to 100,000 dollars are paid. Ministers and party figures in power are the ones who decide on such coveted positions, which makes it clear where the money used to buy these posts goes. Yet, although all this is known, to date no politician implicated in this regard has been confronted with concrete evidence and facts, let alone taken any further. Thus, given politics’ role in encouraging corruption, the fight against it cannot be imagined without involving the political class; indeed, everything must start there. As far as this is concerned, the time for generalizations has now well and truly passed, giving way to naming specific individuals. After that, concrete measures should follow, punishing all officials branded as corrupt. And the first example should come from the executive, since normally this direction should come from the executive, since normally the violations are committed with the signatures of some of its members.

One police officer dies at the scene, five others are injured It was pursuing a gang that had robbed 50 million lekë — page 8

The era of wars over borders is over; now the people of the quarrelsome peninsula have entered an age of peace and work pages 2–3