Yesterday President Berisha left for Brussels, where, at the invitation of NATO Secretary General Manfred Vërner, he will visit the headquarters of the organization. The visit includes talks with Mr. Vërner and an address to the North Atlantic Council, made up of representatives of the 16 allied countries.

(Based on an interview with Mr. Marenglen Rrapi, head of the investigation team in the criminal case against former senior party and state leaders.) By decision of the Tirana District Court, the criminal case against Nexhmije Hoxha and Kino Busheli was separated from the criminal case against the other former senior party and state leaders. After the investigation was completed, the investigative files concerning the two defendants mentioned above were forwarded to the court for review and trial. What is happening with the criminal case against the other former party and state leaders? Is the prosecution working to substantiate with concrete evidence the policy of genocide they inflicted on a very large number of people? As for the abuses, thefts and misappropriation of the treasury, has concrete evidence been gathered that would hold these high-ranking communist officials criminally responsible? On all these issues, Mr. Marenglen Rrapi explained the following to us: During this period, the investigation team has carried out numerous investigative actions in three main areas relating to this case. Many witnesses have been questioned in various parts of the country, mainly former political leaders and activists; evidence has been obtained from their representatives documenting the criminal policy of genocide inflicted on this large number of entirely innocent people. This evidence confirms, in particular, the unconstitutional and illegal acts committed by these former senior party and state leaders, which were not based on any legal enactment; they arbitrarily ordered punitive and disciplinary measures against a section of the population which is, of course, an integral part of the nation. These include the use and weakening of administrative and family measures against those convicted of agitation and propaganda, the denial of women’s rights to education, often grotesque mistreatment in prisons, and the exploitation of labor under open-air conditions in the prisons of the state then in power. These acts of discrimination and attacks on all human freedoms and rights, carried out in violation of the law, were undertaken solely by order of the state; they arbitrarily ordered punitive and disciplinary measures against a section of the population. — HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS WERE INTERNED AND INTERVENED AGAINST IN FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION IN FORCE — ALL RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS WERE TOTALLY DESTROYED (IN 1967), AT A TIME WHEN THE CONSTITUTION IN FORCE GUARANTEED FREEDOM OF RELIGION. — GOLD WAS SEIZED AND THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS WERE SENTENCED. — THERE ARE MAJOR DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE AMOUNTS OF GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCED AND THOSE DEPOSITED. — IN 1988–1990, USING FORGED DOCUMENTS, SEVERAL TONS OF GOLD WERE EXPORTED IN THE NAME OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, IN FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. ... On all these issues, Mr. Marenglen Rrapi explained the following to us: During this period, the investigation team has carried out numerous investigative actions in three main areas relating to this case. Many witnesses have been questioned in various parts of the country, mainly former political leaders and activists; evidence has been obtained from their representatives documenting the criminal policy of genocide inflicted on this large number of entirely innocent people. This evidence confirms that the unconstitutional and illegal acts committed by these former senior party and state leaders were not based on any legal enactment; they arbitrarily ordered punitive and disciplinary measures against a section of the population which is, of course, an integral part of the nation. Thus, among the acts considered are ... ... The Constitution stated that all citizens’ freedoms were guaranteed. In this matter, the relevant investigations are examining not only when this action began, how much was spent, and who led this unconstitutional action, etc. They are also documenting cases of legal violations concerning border incidents. It is known that in May 1990 the legal classification of crossing the border was changed from high treason against the homeland to an ordinary criminal offense. Even after this change in the legal definition of illegal crossing of the state border, the former leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not issue any legal act or provision to regulate these actions involving citizens in border incidents. As is known, this criminal case will also investigate the state treasury, specifically the handling and abuse of accounts and deposits of valuables and other precious metals. The investigation at this stage covers three aspects. These include establishing the actual quantities of gold that were produced and ultimately taken from a large part of the Albanian people during the period 1945–1956. In this matter, we have obtained documents referring to state approval for the use of punishment and torture against individ-... This matter involved state administration, theft, misuse... Moreover, many actions were taken during this period; the investigation continued ... Through the Council of Ministers, approvals were granted in violation of ... all ... The investigation continues... ANDREKE GJINI

As previously reported, Italian President Skalfaro will arrive in Albania on 18 December 1992 for an official visit. Oskar Luixhi Skalfaro’s political career, which began when he was elected President of the Italian Republic by the Assembly of Deputies on 25 May this year, started very early. He was born in Novara on 9 September 1918 and began his activities in the Christian Democratic Party as president of the Diocese of Novara, first in the Male Youth organization and then in the “Catholic Action” movement. During the clandestine resistance of 1943–1945, he worked to help anti-fascist prisoners and their families. In 1945, after completing his law studies, he began work as a prosecutor at the special court of appeal in Novara and Alessandria. Skalfaro’s entry into political life coincided with the rise of Alcide de Gasperi, under whose guidance a new generation of Christian Democratic leaders was formed. In 1946 he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly and would remain a deputy for the Turin–Novara–Vercelli constituency until the elections of 5 April 1992. In 1954 Skalfaro entered the Fanfani government as Undersecretary of Labor. Soon afterward, he was appointed Undersecretary in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the Scelba government. From 1959 to 1962 he served as Minister of the Interior. During the Moro government in 1957 and the Leone government in 1968, he was Minister of Transport. In 1972 he was appointed Minister of Education in Andreotti’s government. From 1976 to 1983 he was Deputy President of the Chamber. From 1983 to 1987 Skalfaro served as Minister of the Interior. This was the last government post he held until, during the crisis of the Craxi government, the then President of the Republic, Francesco Cossiga, entrusted him with forming a government, a task he declined because of the political difficulties involved. Following the elections of 24 April, the former President of the Chamber, Oskar Luixhi Skalfaro, was elected President of the Republic on 25 May this year. (ATSIN)

During the visit to our country in recent days by an American delegation, the Minister of Defense received a message of friendship: the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, wrote the following, among other things, in a letter to Mr. Safet Zhulali: “I express the regard of the United States, which is interested in working with your Ministry by providing assistance to the armed forces of Albania, to support modernization during the transition period, and the establishment of civilian institutions and control serving the defense of democracy.” “We have already begun including Albania in our international military education and training program. We also expect to carry out the military-to-military contact program this year, and we hope that conditions will now allow us to plan visits to Albania by groups of military experts in various fields, so they can share their experience with your officers and soldiers. I also hope that Albania will be able to take advantage of the many-sided offer based on membership in the North Atlantic Cooperation Council.” The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, wrote the following in a letter to the Chief of the General Staff of our Army, Lieutenant General Ilia Vasho: “I commend the progress in modernizing your army, alongside the process of democratization and the prosperity of your country. This is an opportune time to begin bilateral military relations, and we welcome your proposals for cooperation.” (ATSH)

On 2 April, an order was drafted at the General Staff to send tanks, accompanied by infantry troops, into the city of Shkodër, an order that was not signed by the then former minister — — The day’s session began an hour and a half late because yesterday’s meeting between lawyer Bezhani and defendant D. Papare lasted unexpectedly long, and because defendant Çapajev Taci was in poor health. At the very outset, defendant A. Shyti protested that television was not present and was not broadcasting the hearing. Defendant Gjek Çelaj and lawyer Adem Klosi also stressed their request that television broadcast the hearing. The presiding judge informed them that he was unaware of the reasons why Television was not broadcasting the session, and added that Radio was broadcasting it live. Also at the beginning of the session, the defense lawyer for Çapajev Taci informed the presiding judge that his client had been pressured by two police officers, an action that led him to suspect a provocation. (Continued on page 4)

Question: After six days of hearings in the case, do you think the events of 2 April and the people involved have been fully clarified? Answer: As regards the responsibility of the defendants who were former leaders of the law-enforcement forces, it has been clarified. As for the other part, which has also been examined—the perpetrators, the individuals who carried out the killings—it remains unclear, because it is still not known which police officers used their weapons against the wounded and the dead. Question: Were the records kept by the prosecution falsified, as one defendant has claimed, and do the testimonies reveal the severe criticism you voiced during the proceedings (Continued on page 4)

It is midnight on 11 December. Another day has passed, and the truth about the tragic events of 2 April has still not been brought to light. Another day has gone by, even though more than a year has passed since that ominous day. How much longer will this trial last, the first to be held in the days of democracy? At first there were two defendants and a few witnesses. Now there are more than two defendants in the dock, and the number of witnesses continues to grow. The latest reports say that Ramiz Alia, the former senior leader of the Albanian state, has also been summoned as a witness. Not only did he remain silent about the massacre of 2 April in Shkodër, but he also tried by every means to treat it as an ordinary incident. The truth that comes to light will not let the principal culprit escape responsibility, even though he abandoned his subordinates some time ago. Xhemal Dymi-Jonlaj, Çapajev Taci, Gjek Çelën and others have accused the leaders. Now that Ramiz Alia too is being summoned as a witness to this event—not for the next hearing, but to help the justice authorities uncover the truth—no one has any reason to be surprised, because it was Ramiz Alia, together with his instruments, who planned the killings in the north, in the city crowned with Shkodër’s dead, the slaughter of democracy. The Shkodër division is by no means separate from the entire Workers’ Party practice of defending power by every means. That is why it must be examined in depth, to the point where perhaps the need will arise for an essential trial against the former Party of Labour, whose practice included violence and terror. The defendants in the 2 April events, accused of murder, are the tip of the pyramid of the St. Bartholomew’s night that Ramiz Alia and Gramoz Ruçi had planned; the latter led and gives lectures on justice in Parliament (?). The point is to bring to light a more fundamental truth for the future, because the blood of Arban Brodi and the other martyrs holds together the hope for democracy’s continuation. Otherwise, the outcome will have irreconcilable consequences for the people, for democracy, for the nation. If the accused are truly not guilty, or else are they contradicting themselves in their accounts? Why do they not say who gave them the orders to begin the massacre which, apparently, had been planned as a frightening example for the whole country, with the aim of curbing democracy’s momentum? The Shkodër trial, this Gordian knot, must be untied through the force of justice, by placing in the dock all those who had even the slightest influence on these events, and by sentencing without any reservations those guilty who are now in the dock. The truth must come out as soon as possible, before it is too late. BUJAR SELENICA