The gang, disguised as Brisku’s team, executes them with bursts of Kalashnikov fire The last heir was executed yesterday morning The gang, disguised as Brisku’s team, executes them with bursts of Kalashnikov fire The Hakajs wiped out, Nebat’s allies The last heir was executed yesterday morning page 3

By Enton Abilekaj Yesterday, the corruption case at the Ministry of Defence crossed every line. A major general took to the street and held a press conference to explain what his superior had done. He is a military officer, and the law prevents him from going public with Ministry of Defence documents, regardless of whether the matter is justified or not. He should have gone to the prosecution and reported the violations, but not made them public, since he is a military officer. Nevertheless, yesterday the general said that he had spoken with the President and Prime Minister Majko about the Ministry of Defence tenders, but they had not reacted. This lack of response prompted him to go out and show the documents on the streets of Tirana. Another scandal comes from the Prosecution, which is pushing the tender case precisely at the moment when the prime minister himself has held Hajdaraga accountable for abuses. What happened with the Prosecution is so strange that it makes one suspicious. For more than a year they kept the documents in their dubious drawers, without saying a word about the scandals involving the Minister of Defence. In the first months of the year, precisely when the army should have been thinking more about the border than about tenders, the tender scandals were made public. And then silence. Why—or was it to put pressure on Meta?! But the prime minister is known as a strong and resolute hand, and he has made up his mind to establish the rule of law, even though sections of the prosecution want to slow him down. In recent days Meta has touched powerful interests in the corrupt media and the political mafia, so “justice” (!) is being used to respond to his work. But Meta will counterattack fiercely with facts, against the prosecution and anyone who violates the law. Nevertheless, let us continue. After several months, specifically in October–November, the tender case was reopened in order to implicate only the director of the economic directorate, who was dismissed by Prime Minister Meta. When the “Meta” government was being formed, and the press asked whether the minister himself was implicated in the tender case, the prosecution itself denied it. And suddenly, at a “magical” moment when the prime minister declares that to fight corruption and abuses he will spare no minister (including Hajdaraga), nor any other compromised institution, the General Prosecution issues scandalous statements declaring that what the general said yesterday had been known for some time, and that the minister is directly implicated in the scandals. After all this, the only explanation is that the Prosecution is playing a purely political game—in this case, one aimed at destabilising the government. This act brings to mind its gesture in the notorious arena of the protected 6, which the opposition defended so noisily during the summer of ’98. It seems the Albanian prosecution has fully adopted this role and has served as an instigator and treacherous enforcer of political interests. This time too it is playing a political game in favour of taking the anti-corruption weapon into its own hands, even though it could very well be accused of colluding with crime by remaining silent for more than a year. That is precisely why the major issue that has been raised should not be explained solely by the Ministry of Defence tenders, but also by the politics pursued by the prosecuting authority, directed by political and non-political interests, but in any case outside Albania’s interests. Before the Minister is accused, the prosecution must be accused: its scandals have always turned out to be soap bubbles, have always proved to be the product of political interests, and have several times been against the country’s interests and for the benefit of a particular moment. The latest case once again exposes the strange morality of this body, which can be said repeatedly to offer proof of the retreat of the state that is rebuilding itself. In conclusion, the Prime Minister–Prosecutor [the sentence appears garbled in the source] has only just begun, although the story’s eventual outcome can already be predicted.

pages 4–5 General Çikallëshi speaking to reporters yesterday at an on-site press conference photo P. ILO General Çikallëshi speaking to reporters yesterday at an on-site press conference. photo P. ILO

The opposition party insists on 28 November The battle in Albania over the true date of Liberation will never end. We have been left without history and without faith in history precisely because of this lack of understanding between PD and the rest of politics and society. For the third time, the largest opposition party has defied the President and the Constitution by refusing to recognise 29 November as Liberation Day. The Democratic leaders responded to Meidani’s celebration of the national holiday with a parallel event at the same time on Sunday, in order to draw as many people as possible away from the solemnity of a holiday that should not be up for debate. While the President avoided the quarrel over 29 November, PD is also divided over 28 November, our national holiday. pages 10–11

pages 16–17

Humour by Filip Çakuli , pages 30–31