Interview from hiding: We will not surrender. Mafia clans in the Ministry of Public Order and the Prosecutor’s Office want to see us behind bars The court issued arrest warrants yesterday for the police official and the chairman of the PUPD page 7

The statements made two days ago by the opposition leader, and even more the terminology he used in Parliament, could not fail to provoke reactions among the Socialists, first and foremost among those to whom he addressed himself personally. What stood out most in the Socialist response were the calls for the prosecution service to penalize Berisha. Thus, Nano, describing Berisha’s statements in Parliament as a “threat against the institutions,” warned that they would be put on file to be used in the future as evidence by the prosecution against the Democratic leader. Meanwhile, another of the SP’s leaders, while classifying Berisha’s statements as “threats,” did not hesitate to accuse the prosecution of being “an accomplice if it failed to act.” In fact, such reactions by Socialist leaders, who invoke justice against Berisha whenever the opposition leader hardens his tone against government officials in his speeches, have become very familiar in Albanian politics over the past three years. Not long ago, Nano himself, when his opponent began “going on the attack” by targeting his “cousins,” asked the prosecution service to deal with Berisha at a meeting in one of the SP branches. Socialist officials may perhaps be right to complain about the justice system’s stance toward Berisha, but to date none of the politicians in the governing coalition, whether government officials or party officeholders, has had the courage to draw up a complaint against the Democratic leader and submit it to the Prosecutor’s Office. Thus, while Berisha adds to his lists day after day, accusing all the “mafia” government officials of thefts and other misdeeds, none of them has gone to the trouble of suing Berisha for defamation, as the law allows. On the other hand, three years ago the majority of public opinion had been prepared by the opposition of the time to expect that, once in power, it would see Berisha in the dock for what happened during that period in 1997. But as the years passed, not only did this not happen, Berisha also ignored prosecutors’ requests to appear, even as a witness. For these reasons, politicians’ calls on the prosecution or other justice bodies to bring Berisha before the law look more like part of an ordinary ritual. They do nothing more than imitate Berisha in reverse. For the Democratic leader, too, although he makes accusations every day at rallies, has not had the courage to file even one complaint over the information he claims to have about trafficking allegedly directed by government and state leaders.

page 8 Italian Red Brigades terrorist arrested in Tirana

The reasons remain mysterious page 9 Lushnje, massacre in a family Kills his mother, brother, child and himself

pages 28–29 The Council of Ministers decided last night that all members of the Cabinet must hand over their rings, necklaces and bracelets to make up for the gold stolen from the State Treasury