If it were up to me, I would never allow myself to exploit my position as editor-in-chief to defend myself against that barrage of Socialist Party attacks. «Zëri i popullit» is attacking me fiercely, and the essence of the attack is: people, beware of Napoleon—he is a democrat, but he is a member of a minority. The branches of «Zëri i popullit» are attacking me, as are «Kombi» in Tirana and «Koha Jonë» in Lezhë. I repeat: amid all those insulting and slanderous words, the essence remains the same—Beware of the minority democrat. I am not ashamed to be a member of a minority. On the contrary, it is a double honor to me, because I am a minority member and, above all, because for 57 years of my life I have lived in Tirana as a brother among Albanian brothers, as an equal among equals. I was proposed as a candidate for parliament in Tirana by the residents of the neighborhood where I have lived for 57 years, since I came to Tirana at six months old, in the very neighborhood where I served as a people’s councilor for 20 years. I am a person with my own good and bad qualities. I claim no extraordinary ability or merit for myself. I am simply a fighter for democracy. I have tried to contribute something too. I represent the Party, and members of the Publishing Council have repeatedly been admonished over principled shortcomings in the newspaper. I am not exaggerating when I say that at least seven meetings of the DP in various districts where I was a delegate alongside other members of the DP’s governing commission, as well as dozens of other meetings of DP branches, repeatedly voiced broad and serious complaints about the newspaper. Azem Hajdari and I, assigned by the leadership, came to your office a long time ago and presented our criticisms and the many complaints about the newspaper from the grassroots. Since, in your three-page self-interview, you did not address any of the issues that led to your removal from office, to refresh your memory we are reminding you—and your readers—of them. During the election campaign, before the elections, the DP carried out extensive and intensive activities both inside and outside the country. Its activists and branches were targets of aggressive attacks by the country’s Enverist and Stalinist forces. They turned to the newspaper, but found no response. At that time the PPSH had nothing to offer the people, so it resorted to the lowest kinds of attacks and slander against me and the DP leadership. RD chose to remain silent in the face of this campaign, a silence that continues [?] I have lived for 57 years, because I came to Tirana when I was six months old, in the years. I am a person with my own merits and shortcomings. I claim no exceptional have openly expressed my views to people, in parliament and in the newspaper. I expressed them openly to the president a year ago, at the meeting with intellectuals. Let people judge me. I have nothing to hide about what I did before. Not only articles, but books as well. If I have to account for it, let me do so. But, Mr. Frrok, in the interest of truth, when I was dismissed from my job in 1975 by Enver Hoxha, Mehmet Shehu and Sofo Lazri, I was not dismissed for what you write, but because in the article I attacked Brezhnev more than the USA. I did not do it out of bravery so that I could ask for a medal today. It was one of the ordinary articles, like the ones we wrote at that time. In the interview published by «Koha jonë» you accuse me of having, in practice, conspired to have you dismissed as editor-in-chief. I must tell you that the Party formed a special group to analyze the newspaper, chaired by the secretary of the Steering Commission, Mr. Eduard Selami, and including the chairman of the Party’s political section, Mr. Azem Hajdari, and me, who was in charge of the DP’s information. Had your shortcomings previously been pointed out to you? From the Steering Commission, directed at the country’s Enverists and Stalinists. For this, they would turn to the newspaper, but they received no response. During this period resorted to the lowest attacks and slander against me and the leaders of the DP. RD chose silence in the face of this frenzied campaign. But despite this, the people knew whom to vote for. The DP has conducted intensive international activity. Distinguished personalities of world stature have visited its headquarters, such as Senator Klejbor Pell, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator De Konsini, and many other prominent figures. You, Mr. Frrok, once again published not a word in RD. From the founding of the DP, it was known that the greatest difficulty in its work lay in the countryside. There were far too few articles about the countryside and explaining the DP’s program, and this cost us dearly. The DP has been greatly concerned by the attitude toward a political prisoner. From its founding, the DP rallied the entire Albanian people in support of the demand for the release of political prisoners. The dictatorship was forced to release them. But you, Mr. Frrok, have repeatedly treated them arrogantly; you even refused to publish their statements, although they came officially from the DP Steering Commission. The defense of the cause of... (Continued on page 5)

— A crush of people trying to board ships at the port of Durrës caused 4 deaths — The ancient city of Durrës once again experienced the tragic pain of the exodus. The throngs of young people, children, families, and others, stranded until midday because of the shortage of places to board the ships «Skënderbeu», «Butrinti», «Vlora» and the two tugboats, did not escape bloodshed this time either. Sixteen-year-old Valbona Lila slipped from the ropes and drowned at sea. Another woman, around 50 years old, suffered the same fate. Two young men were killed when an overloaded truck carrying people heading to the port crashed in Shijak. Convoys of passengers kept arriving from Tirana, Elbasani, Kruja and many other districts, and it seemed unbelievable that such tragedies could continue to be led along in the half-demolished beds of trucks and tractors. The police and army forces had taken on the role of spectators and watched as the tragedy was repeated. By now, everyone has become convinced that the opening of the gates at particular moments is no coincidence, and that the tragic exodus is organized. Were the embassy doors not opened right after the July massacre, when the killers were at risk of facing the law and Kosovo was declaring itself a republic? Were the ports in Vlorë and Durrës and the southern border not opened on the eve of the first pluralist elections to keep the red rulers in power once again? [?] They sent people and families away [?] now, when in the name of the law the people are demanding the punishment of those who squandered their wealth, and the punishment of the criminals behind the Shkodër massacre, and when the Greater Serbs are threatening Kosovo and Albania’s northeastern borders. The anti-democratic and anti-Albanian forces which, it seems, still wield power are the very ones who organized this painful departure as well. The danger of this departure from the port of Durrës had been predicted. The day before, hundreds of young people from Vlorë had set out for Italy aboard the ships «Durrësi» and «Liria» from the port of Vlorë. To prevent this danger, the chairman of the Executive Committee of the district People’s Council in Durrës, Mr. Bashkim Kopliku, together with representatives of the police forces, the army and other officials, had determined the necessary measures. The most important was to block the crowds of people trying to enter Durrës. There is only one entrance to Durrës, at the Dajlan Bridge. But the police forces did not even make the effort to stop any vehicle transporting people bound for the port. The head of the police department, Mr. Milto Kordha, said he had ordered the police chief, Mr. Niko Gjata, early in the morning to set up roadblocks. The latter also claimed to have carried this out, but the reality on the ground was different. The crowds consisted of travelers who had come from Elbasan and managed to enter Durrës without any hindrance. Residents of Tirana and other districts joined this group later as well. Under these circumstances, it was indeed difficult to prevent people from entering the port. The district’s police and army commanders discussed at length their ability to stop the crowd at the port entrance, even though doing so seemed impossible. Each side blamed the other for incompetence and neglect of duty. But what had they done beforehand to prevent the exodus? How had they organized themselves to protect the city and port from the influx? The port commander, Mr. Flamur Shahini, and the head of the police department said that they had brought reinforcements to the port early in the morning. Durrës residents, however, claimed that there had been far more military forces on days when the ferry arrived than there were this time! Regardless of which of them is right, the fact that after the great exodus from Durrës these forces thought they could disperse some crowds is significant. This suggests that this time they greatly neglected their duty, and perhaps someone had an interest in people entering the port. Indeed, alongside the townspeople, soldiers and police officers boarded the ships, taking their weapons with them. Ironically, at 1:30, from inside the ship «Vlora», they “greeted” their own exploit and the indifference of the commanders with bursts of automatic-gun fire!

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Genc Ruli, after reading the report «On the inspection at the General Directorate» in Parliament, declared: «The Government has decided that the inspection files be forwarded to the investigation authorities for criminal proceedings». This is a statement which, given its importance, will go down in the history of the Government of Stability. The people had been hearing calls for such a statement for years. Perhaps there have been many debates. There is much speculation. But there are also many questions, objections and suspicions. These have also been expressed in a series of letters sent to the editorial office, including some from Tirana, as the replies indicate. — In the letter concerning those who squandered the funds of the bloc, (?) Ramiz Alla. Whoever has squandered funds, whoever has taken what was not rightfully theirs at the people’s expense, must account for it and appear before justice. But can the investigation authorities do this? When financial scandals like these have occurred in Japan, Greece, England and elsewhere, ministers and prime ministers have been brought to justice, because in those countries the law is equal for everyone. Will this happen with our president, Mr. Alla, too? Here is another letter, from Kavaja. Its essence, in brief, is as follows: «On the list of six squanderers, those who lived in luxury at a time when the people were struggling for their daily bread ...» (Continued on page 2)

On 4 August, the 6,000-ton ship «Durrësi», loaded with ore, enters the Bay of Vlorë. At 8 a.m. on 5 August, it takes on water at a military supply point. (Two questions: Why did it need to take on water in Vlorë? Why at a military facility? (Luneli Vlorë), and not at Skelë?) After taking on supplies, it did not depart, but had to wait until the next day, 6 August (!?). At around 12:00 that day, the ship weighs anchor and begins moving toward the shore. At Tunikë it lowers the gangway, and people board it en masse—people who had naturally been informed and had been waiting for some time at the «Rivera» bar. Then the ship moves a little away from that spot, and the crew use a megaphone to call to the people on shore, asking who wants to go to Holland. (This refutes RTV’s claim that people tried to force their way onto the ship.) For those relaxing on the shore, this enticement was a «Miracle», as if it had fallen from the sky. And immediately the rush toward the ship began. At around 12:15, a military tanker approached and fired into the air to frighten the people. They continued toward «Durrësi», which was waiting for them with «open arms». The tanker then left. At that point, after around 200–250 people had boarded «Durrësi», it started its engines and began to move away. (Continued on page 5)

After the formation of the (pluralist) government of stability, it was the turn of local government. The executive committees of the district people’s councils are now also headed by opposition members, as in Tirana, Durrës, Shkodër, Vlorë, etc. They came into being alongside the conservatives’ inclination to strike at democracy. One expression of this tendency is the staging of incidents in the ports of Vlorë and Durrës. In this way they are trying to discredit the chairmen and members of the committees, who are now from the Democratic Party. In Durrës, this tendency became openly apparent when the Ministry of Defense was blamed for the situation that had arisen, with the insinuation that this was because the department was led by a representative of the Democratic Party. We do not want to exonerate the military units that were guarding the port that day. They bear considerable responsibility. But we want to emphasize something else: Can anyone believe that the army is now completely depoliticized, or that it is entirely identified with the Democratic minister? No. Indeed, we are able to substantiate this with facts. At 2:30, the noncommissioned officer of unit 9022, Halim Allaraj, who had been assigned to prevent people from entering through the main gate of the Port of Durrës, was not doing that job at all. Instead, he was sticking his head out of the guardhouse window and shouting at people that at the main gate of the Port of Durrës he wasn’t doing[?] that job at all, but shouting at people that at the main gate... (Continued on page 4)

What happened in Tirana on Wednesday, August 7, is unforgettable and perhaps a unique occurrence in the world in peacetime. Everywhere—in the capital’s main streets, in its little lanes, near the center, on the ring road, near the Postal Directorate or the railway station—hundreds and thousands of citizens were running and running, pursued by the shadow of death. They were of every age: young people, the elderly, children, travelers, women, young girls. It was an amorphous mass, like in York, of unknown controllers, rolling along to crash somewhere, perhaps into some abyss. On Wednesday, Tirana was being abandoned, increasingly abandoned; citizens’ lives were heading toward the shattered harbor of hope, toward Durrës. Trucks, buses, vans and three-wheelers, private cars and taxis—any vehicle at hand—were seized to head toward the port of Durrës. They filled them with our brothers and sisters, with children without parents, with parents dragging along minor, innocent children, with mothers who were shouting. Our capital resembled a city awaiting invasion, awaiting some calamity, from which people were desperately trying to get away by whatever means they could, taking their loved ones or friends with them and leaving others to their fate. The truck beds filled up; perhaps the “passengers,” with their grief, joy and tension, risked being thrown onto the road by the overcrowding. Others clung to the roofs of buses and of the train that left for Durrës, facing the same fate before reaching their destination. And to this whole scene, which could not fail to pierce you deeply in your soul and heart, to provoke outrage, to bring to mind the lines “O my Albania,” poor Albania!—were added the tears of passersby, of those who were leaving, of those who perhaps could not make up their minds, of pensioners, of our grandmothers who, standing[?] in doorways, held black scarves in their withered hands. This is the third mass exodus. The young are leaving Tirana, the teenagers, its future. Why have you been condemned like this, O my people?! Who cursed you like this, O my land blessed by the gods?! A heavy curse upon those responsible! May they find no peace in this life. Life! We know them. We also know why the tragedy of the exodus is happening and continuing. Many have lost all hope; many, even though they are aware that something is wrong, expect no one, and that day, if they can get something sorted out, how will they be discriminated against, accommodated, seasonal, without security for... (Continued on page 6)