President Berisha and Gligorov attend the inauguration of the Tushemisht border crossing - Three customs border-crossing points between Macedonia and Albania were opened: Blatë, Goricë and Tushemisht. The presidents of both countries, Sali Berisha and Kiro Gligorov, welcomed this act and attended the inauguration of the border crossing at Tushemisht. - These three border-crossing points that we are opening today, said President Berisha, will bring our countries closer together, and this is an act that makes us happy—not only us, but especially those who have relatives on either side of the border. Small countries usually understand one another better; therefore, we are determined to have the best possible relations with Macedonia. For his part, Kiro Gligorov warmly welcomed this act of rapprochement between the two countries and peoples in a speech delivered at one of the guest villas in Pogradec. Asked by several journalists about the Edinburgh decision concerning Macedonia, Mr. Gligorov expressed reservations, saying: “This decision was incomplete and insubstantial, but not final. Therefore, we hope for the future.” At the Macedonian border crossing, where the Macedonian customs post was also located, Mr. Berisha answered questions from several journalists about the aims of his policy. He reiterated that “Our policy has been and remains a policy of friendship, cooperation and understanding with all our neighbors. We will continue to be friends with Greece, Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Indeed, tomorrow, certainly, with Serbia too, when it has become a truly democratic country among the other countries of the region. We have no prejudices about this, since the entire region is undergoing a process of integration, which we consider very important.” Regarding the significance of opening new crossing points with Macedonia, he added: “This act expresses good neighborly relations and the greater possibility of rapprochement between the two countries in a stable Balkans. Albania has opened the paths of cooperation and collaboration with Macedonia, and this is a meaningful indication that two neighbors cannot remain distant from one another.” From there, President Sali Berisha, accompanied by Kiro Gligorov, visited the Church of Saint Naum, then continued to a villa near Ohrid, where he held talks with Mr. Gligorov. After the talks, both presidents made statements to journalists. Mr. Berisha said: “What was done today with the opening of the border-crossing points was important, but even more important will be the opening of other points, as many as needed, so that we can guarantee the free movement of people between our two countries. We held important talks with Mr. President, and agreed that all governments and democratic forces in the Balkans should cooperate and coordinate their efforts to resolve the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and prevent their spread. This must be the main priority of all our activity. In these talks, the dominant views were not narrow and particular ones, but rather that full Balkan cooperation is the path the political forces and governments of the Balkans must follow and devote themselves to. We also reviewed relations between the two countries, expressed satisfaction with their development to date, and decided that our next meetings should produce further concrete results. At this meeting, the Albanian side expressed its unwavering position that Macedonia’s independence and stability are in the interests of Macedonia, Albania and the entire region. It also expressed its goodwill and the greater possibility of rapprochement between the two countries in a stable Balkans. Albania has opened the paths of cooperation and collaboration with Macedonia, and this is a meaningful indication that two neighbors cannot remain distant from one another.” (Continued on page 4)

Serbian Chauvinism AGAINST THE ALBANIAN POPULATION Another victim of Serbian terror. This time the innocent victim is a citizen of Albania, in the border area at Tropojë. In complete treachery and in violation of every international moral and legal norm, he was shot by Serbian border forces. He is entirely innocent, just as the 17–20-year-old martyrs of the Pristina massacre a few days ago were innocent, and just as the victims of the unrest in Skopje were innocent. Nothing is accidental. If, in this serious incident on the Albanian-Serbian border, five innocent Albanian citizens have now been cruelly wounded, without legal grounds and without even the minimum ethics of good neighborliness, Serbian terror is seeking new interstate arenas. All these events, in which Milošević’s cards are being played, are linked by a common denominator: the incitement of interstate conflicts and tensions. The Serbian government and its president have repeatedly demonstrated their policy and genocidal ambitions, in order to achieve the creation of Greater Serbia. No international document, no charter of human values, no understanding of the freedoms and rights of citizens and nations, speaks of the genocide, violence and arbitrariness that Milošević’s Serbian dictatorship is inflicting on the Albanian population. The latest border massacre of an Albanian citizen is a clear indication of Serbian chauvinism and escalating genocide, going beyond the bounds of an incident and seeking a new position in interstate relations. It is entirely understandable why Serbia, during its presidential elections and at the height of the Albanian government’s diplomatic activity, seeks to use incidents, tensions and public genocide to justify its new plans for a southern war. While Belgrade’s propaganda spews venom against Albania and Kosovo, accusing us of separatism, they are the ones leading the terror, they are the ones violating international laws, they are the ones inciting genocide and chauvinism, ruthlessly seeking to unleash their force against millions of Albanians unjustly divided. AFRIM KRASNIQI

THE SHKODRA TRIAL — A TRIAL BETWEEN DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY THE SHKODRA TRIAL A TRIAL BETWEEN DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY THE RED CRIMINALS WANT TO COVER THEIR TRACKS IN THE SPIDER’S WEB The investigators appointed by the court to uncover the perpetrators of the killings have tried to establish, by questioning witnesses, whether anyone had seen who fired the guns; but the witnesses answer by identifying the organizers of the rally. The same thing is now being done by those sitting in the dock as defendants. They ask who sent the people in front of the armed men. Here is the answer, clear to everyone, but one that the investigators, the defendants on trial and all the red spiders should understand: Nobody sent people in front of the bullets; it was the hatred accumulated over 50 years against the criminal system of communism. The witness Nuri Brahimaj told the defendants to their faces that at 4:00 in the morning of April 1, the head of the Shkodër Internal Affairs Branch, Çapajev Taci, had shouted, “Hurrah...” and this “hurrah” was followed by gunfire from within the department! The witness also testified that a notice had been put up on the wall in the courtyard of the Internal Affairs Branch, stating in capital letters that the Party of Labour had won 169 seats in Parliament. At 7:00 in the morning of April 2, the witness said, Çapajev Taci gathered us in his office and read us the telegrams arriving from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which stated that the result had been officially confirmed: the Party of Labour had won, and they called on us to tighten our ranks! Çapajev, when he came out into the corridor, had also declared gleefully: “Now we’ll smash the Democrats’ heads!” Çapajev, instead of behaving like a defendant accused of crimes, acted as if he were running the hearing and asked the witness whether he had any proof; he was supposed to be dealing with the explanation, and that is what he had been doing for years. “You’re lying!” the witness told him. “You’re lying!” But the witness Nuri Brahimaj had worked in this department and knew all the events. He recounted them one by one to both Çapajev and Hajredin: apart from torturing citizens inhumanely in the courtyard of the Internal Affairs Branch, they had told their employees that they were communists and would never be depoliticized, that they had their Party membership cards in their pockets. At this point, instead of supporting the prosecution, the prosecutor in the case came to the defense of the defendants, Çapajev and Hajredin, and called Nuri Brahimaj’s statements into question. But the presiding judge, Mr. Qazim Gjon, immediately intervened and told the defendants: “You never mentioned in any hearing the telegrams that came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the citizens knew nothing about these telegrams. The witness Nuri Brahimaj revealed them to us. You again denied that the telegrams existed, and admitted it only when, fortunately, we checked them against the different records. This is in the interest of our country.” The other statements reported in the newspaper were not made during the hearing, apart from what was said above. They are merely fabricated inventions, especially the expression “Islamic Conference” and “it seems to me, my Albania, in the event of war—” This is a monstrous fabrication. The Chairman H. HAFIZ SABRI KOÇI ... during his trial proceedings. They did not say at any point who had seen them or how many had heard them; intrigue and crime have been the principles of Communism. The forensic doctor Bardhyl Çipri, who was also called as a witness, likewise answered everything with great vagueness during the trial. He testified about irrelevant matters. He even went so far as to propose that the trial be immediately suspended and Arbën Broci’s body exhumed so that an expert examination could be conducted. But he saw Arbën on April 3, so why did he not do his duty? When asked whether he had obtained the tools to conduct the examination, he replied no, because they were at the Shkodër Internal Affairs Branch; but when he went to Arbën Broci’s grave, he had no tools with him. But why was Doctor Çipi not asked about this, and why did Nuzri Kryegji go to the hospital in Tirana without having the examination carried out? It was plainly evident that Mr. Bardhyl Çipi is caught in the red spider’s web and cannot find the strength to escape, but is caught in its clutches. Once again, the Shkodra trial is taking the path of a tunnel with no apparent entrance or exit. The defendants have steered the course of the trial where they want it to go. The questioners discussed ordinary matters unrelated to the case. They did not mention the killings at all. They do this with a specific purpose: to escape responsibility and carry out their scenario. Even the prosecution helps them, though it will achieve nothing! The weak investigation of the case helps them too. “Strike the enemies” was the directive from above in the telegrams of April 1 and 2. And the Shkodër Internal Affairs Branch carried out this task devotedly: to round up the enemies of the Party of Labour. And Çapajev gave the exact coordinates for the killings. The snipers showed great professionalism and loyalty in their service to the Party they cherished. They fired their weapons at those they had been instructed to target and whose photographs they had been given. Who were they? Not only were they PD activists, but they had also been imprisoned. Arben Broci was the son of Beqir Broci, who had been convicted as an enemy of the Party of Labour. Nazmi Kryeziu too had been convicted as an enemy of the PP. This is why these four were killed: the bullets were not meant for a communist, or for a former communist. Therefore, Çapajev should have identified the list of snipers who had captured the arrivals that day, and the snipers should have been brought before the court and asked what task Çapajev had given them and from where they had fired. Then Çapajev himself could have said where he had received his instructions, or he could stand by his subordinates and take responsibility, as he had sworn to do. They did not say at any point who had seen them or how many had heard them; intrigue and crime have been the principles of Communism. ... All the defendants who were part of it must be held accountable in the trial. It must also be said that such a trial was held... Who gave the signal for what happened in Shkodër on April 2, and what directives were issued? After the massacre, did he summon the minister, the deputy minister or any other senior official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to report? What plans did the Interior Ministry have? What plans did they devise to cover up this crime? Indeed, all the members of the Presidium of that time should be called as witnesses to testify about how they arranged this event at a Presidium meeting. The prime minister of that time should also be summoned. All the minutes from those days held at the Central Committee, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Shkodër Internal Affairs Branch must urgently be requested. If they have disappeared, the former president, former prime minister, former interior minister and head of the Shkodër Internal Affairs Branch must be asked to account for their disappearance. Was the safe holding the secret documents of Xhe! mal Dymylja, and into which the film of the event was placed, made of wood or metal? If it was metal, how did this safe disappear without a trace? It is said that many foreign journalists were in Shkodër that day filming; they even know the address of an Italian journalist. Every effort must be made to obtain their footage and testimony. All footage and photographs recording the April 2 massacre should also be collected. All the employees of the Party Committee who were present at the time at the Central Committee should be summoned to court. A secretary named Xhorxhi was caught by the crowd as he was leaving the Party Committee like a thief. It was even said in those days that he was armed. What happened to this person? Why was nothing more said about him? Where is he? If he is alive, he should be summoned to court to testify. The policemen who are in Greece must also be summoned without fail. Someone may say that these things are unimportant or impossible to do. If the court considers that it cannot do them, let it say so. Someone may say the trial will take too long. Let it take as long as it needs! This trial will not end until the leaders of the massacre sit in the dock. This trial will not be allowed to turn into a comedy. So let the defendants not imagine they can get away with a symbolic sentence or laughable fines. Nor should they ask for their trial, thinking they will escape by avoiding the real truth. And those who think they can open these secrets... this (Continued on page 2)

- Interview with Mr. Tomor Doshi. - Question: In your recent meetings, you have spoken about the role of intellectuals and their commitment and contribution to the democratic processes. Is this a policy of the moment or a strategic line of the DP? Answer: A genuinely democratic party cannot exist without broad participation by intellectuals. If we regard true intellectuals as the soul and mind of a nation, their major role in every process of the people’s life is self-evident. It is a moral and historic obligation for anyone who considers himself or herself an intellectual to take part, of their own free will, in our political and economic life. I think the DP, which has the legitimate right to be led by those who have done something for Albania, should also take pride in the fact that within its ranks it rejects every kind of vindictiveness and every dictatorship, of whatever color. Revenge is the worst legal instinct. Away from it—always far away. I think mutual love and respect should be our weapons in the battle to build a new society. Only, and only with these weapons, will we emerge victorious and build the state governed by the rule of law, in order to establish the social justice so greatly desired. Question: The opposition and the ADA speak and write about an affinity between Balli Kombëtar and Legaliteti and some leaders of the DP. How would you respond to this accusation? Answer: Recently, such an accusation has been made, and unfortunately there are people who have become part of it. B.K and Legaliteti are now two parties legalized by the M.D.; they have programs, statutes and newspapers of their own. If any DP leader felt an inclination toward them, he could easily join them. Personally, I think such an accusation is demagoguery. I have thought, and still think, that the DP’s program has sufficient scope to resolve all our problems.

In the newspaper “Koha e Jonë,” Wednesday, 9.12.1992, the interview with the chairman of the Muslim Community, Mr. Hafiz Hafiz Sabri Koçi, was substantially distorted, to our great regret. It is not true that H. Hafiz Sabri Koçi said that President Sali Berisha had not consulted me before making the decision to go to the Islamic Conference, as the newspaper wrote. It is not true that such a question was asked; the point was: “This question is irrelevant, because the President’s trip has no religious character. His visit is purely a state visit and concerns state relations and the further expansion of relations with various states, with various states, with the Community.” The substance of the other things written in the newspaper was not discussed in the interview, apart from what was said above. They are merely fabricated inventions, especially the expression “Islamic Conference” and “it seems to me, my Albania, in the event of war—” This is a monstrous fabrication. The Chairman H. HAFIZ SABRI KOÇI