On this day, the President of Albania, Sali Berisha, received the representative of the Council of Europe’s «Task Force Albania» in Tirana, Mr. Mark Neville, and handed him a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ms. Katarinë Lalumier, and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr. Miguel Angel Martinez. In this letter, the President of the Republic expresses Albania’s request to sign the European Convention «for the prevention of torture and punish- (continued on page 2)

Protest by the Journalists’ Association of Albania «On March 1, in the area behind the Palace of Congresses, deputy Ritvan Peshkëpia and Arben Imami insulted and, together with the people accompanying them, struck the editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Republika», Ylli Rakipi, using thuggish language. At the same time, inside the Palace of Congresses, the journalist of «Rilindja Demokratike», Afrim Krasniqi, was threatened with a firearm by a person unknown to him, who made the reason for the threat clear: his work as a journalist for RD. This unknown person’s criminal act in a public place was accompanied by another provocative act by two deputies of the People’s Assembly, namely Ritvan Peshkëpia and Arben Imami, who threatened the aforementioned journalist again, repeating the words of the person who had threatened him just moments earlier. The Journalists’ Association of Albania considers such acts by deputies of the People’s Assembly, and their conduct toward the two journalists, to be outright acts of violence against the Albanian press, inspired by political emotions. These acts were committed by people who enjoy parliamentary immunity and therefore constitute a serious threat to the space for press freedom. We recall that these incidents follow the barbaric attacks carried out days earlier against two other journalists of Rilindja Demokratike, as well as the assault that left in a coma another well-known press contributor, Kasem Seferi, who had exposed the economic corruption of the old regime with evidence. While protesting this climate of terror directed against journalists and press contributors, the Journalists’ Association of Albania also notes that such acts of terrorism are organized by a certain category of individuals and political forces who lack the courage to face the Albanian press honestly in public—those who feel insecure under the scrutiny of journalists. The Journalists’ Association of Albania demands that the person who threatened the journalist with a firearm in the public areas of the Palace of Congresses be identified and brought before the law. At the same time, we ask the government and the President to support our concern for the safety of journalists’ lives, as they are all too often becoming victims not only of ordinary terrorists but, lately, also of politicians and deputies. We also ask the two aforementioned deputies, and their esteemed colleagues in the People’s Assembly, that, if they cannot approve the status of the journalist, which enshrines our public rights, they at least refrain from becoming perpetrators themselves of threats to journalists’ freedom. Regarding the above incident, the Journalists’ Association of Albania will send a protest note to the President of the Republic, the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, all international institutions and counterpart journalists’ organizations, as well as human rights organizations.» organizations analogous to journalists’ organizations, as well as organizations for the protection of human rights.” Mr. Çoka, who has sworn to be honest and to accept the rules of the political game, threatens and speaks openly in public, in the presence of the country’s leading officials and the world, with all sorts of means to cause … while in power. This shows not only the institutionalized banditry of the PAD, but at the same time convincingly reveals the continuation of the PAD’s “moderate” hostility toward the journalists of “RD” and the democratic press. officials … Until now, not a hair on their heads has been harmed; they should be ashamed of this, including before the democratic press and our esteemed People’s Assembly, which, we believe, will not turn a blind eye to this insulting act against representatives of the Albanian press. We hope that the Temple of Justice will restore the journalists’ honor. MUJE BUÇPAPAJ

In the bitter political winter of the offspring of the State Security apparatus embedded in PAD, at the end of their shameful failure, now stripped of their declarations as «champions» of the defense of human rights, press freedom, and freedom of thought, on March 1, 1993, two of its leaders and representatives openly displayed their hooliganism, their gangsterism, their arrogance, their shamelessness—the profile of an Albanian deputy. After a torrent of insults befitting only the portrait of a boulevard adventurer, Mr. Ridvan Peshkëpia kicks the editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Republika», Mr. Ylli Rakipi, with the help of Mr. Arben Imami, solely because of his honest and democratic stance in Albanian journalism. These same hooligans, immediately after their first assault, threaten «RD» journalist Afrim Krasniqi with physical violence, accompanied by a group of gangsters armed with pistols, borrowed from the ranks of the former State Security or former rep. 326. This unlawful and antidemocratic scene, arising from dark ambitions to regain power by any means, reveals not only PAD’s institutionalized gangsterism but also clearly exposes the brutality of PAD’s «moderation» toward «RD» journalists and the democratic press. Mr. Çoka, the «sworn advocate of building the foundation of the political game» of «RD», Mr. B. Trenova, had been attacked by a gang in the streets of Tirana in the darkness of night some time ago. Likewise, the author of these lines has been threatened with a firearm and an automobile accident for these reasons, precisely because of his political stance against PAD’s hooliganism, etc. Messrs. Peshkëpia and Imami may have lost patience because of the self-exposure they bring upon themselves; they may be impatient as their end approaches, but this does not justify kicking journalists. The hooliganism of Peshkëpia and Imami shows PAD’s unmasked face. Those who protest against Parliament, the President, and PD over violations of human rights if they are not shown on television for even half a minute, or if their turn to speak in Parliament is delayed, have no qualms about trampling the freedom and dignity of press representatives. Those who call themselves endangered and threatened by the democratic government, though not a hair on their heads has actually been touched, are not ashamed to send gangs after you and threaten you with TT pistols over even a simple criticism in a newspaper, or to attack you with kicks, iron bars, or other hooligan and adventurer methods and means. These «moderates» of PAD, who bring to mind the Hitlerian gangs before they came to power in the 1930s, developed an ever-growing antidemocratic appetite and claimed for themselves the absolute right to insult, abuse, and threaten their political opponents. The latest scene involving two PAD deputies shows that a hooligan deputy, armed with the immunity of a member of the Albanian Parliament, can kick a member of society. But democratic thought is far more powerful, as is the democratic reason of our honored People’s Assembly in a democratic state, which we believe will not remain indifferent to this shameful act against representatives of the Albanian press. We hope that the Temple of Justice will restore the journalists’ honor.

Nowhere else in the world can politically oriented propaganda directed against a party have national and tragic dimensions like those of the PP(S)’s propaganda against the DP. It appeared as early as December 1990, demonstrating historical primitivism toward a new political force such as the DP. The Albanian Communist Party changed nothing in its arsenal of insults, abuse, and labels, which it used against the anti-imperialist “American enemy” and “Soviet social-imperialism.” And it has continued in the same way since the first day of the birth of democracy and democratic government. Socialist-communist propaganda today operates with an old practice of condemnation: it has lost its vocabulary, reason, and regard for the law; its hostility alone remains, and its methods change the cruelty of its reach; because, in the words of propaganda observers, it operates on varying scales. The Democratic Party has often neglected propaganda, something that has exhausted Albanians, something that in our 50-year life acquired a nervous and threatening meaning. So much so that the word propaganda has often been associated with agitation, concentration camps, and forced conformity. But despite the contemporary dimensions of democracy and the democratic state, despite the immense strength of Albanian democracy, something remains hard to accept: people’s susceptibility to being influenced by propaganda, and especially by communist anti-propaganda. This is particularly evident in this period, when the entire propaganda arsenal of the PS has been directed against the democratic government; when “ZP,” using a language of slander and accusations, tries to tarnish every historic achievement of the democratic government; when “ZP,” as the vehicle of Albanian communist conservatism, tries at all costs to bring back the communist past; when the conservative communist past tries to cloud Albanians’ economic prospects. Albanian communists are trying to create public opinion against the democratic state and to stir up deep hostility and resentment toward it. The fact is that the Albanian people have not been influenced at all by this savage communist propaganda. They have courageously determined their democratic fate and clearly express their mood and views, including in the survey conducted by the European Committee, which gives a clear signal of optimism about Albania’s future and the path it has chosen. Albanians have a will to embrace the market economy and confidence in the economic future. The contrast with other countries is very great. For example, in Poland only 27 percent of people think they are on the right path, while 65 percent think they are on the wrong path. In Hungary only 9 percent of people see an improvement in the economic situation, while 67 percent see only (Continued on page 3). 3 with the facts about the regime’s economic corruption

Mr. Safet Zhulali invites Sedat Brahja of “ZP” for a visit After reading Sedat’s article in “ZP,” which sounded the “alarm” throughout the country, claiming that today’s government officials were swallowing up huge sums of state and public money to renovate their apartments, Mr. Safet Zhulali was astonished and outraged. He told me so a few days later: “— I have an unshakable conviction that ‘ZP’ knows only how to invent things, insult, slander, and break the law—here is the proof,” he told me. “For these two years, it hasn’t left anything unsaid against me. So, thinking that this is the only tune it knows, I haven’t replied. But in this case, I can’t remain indifferent. Although you, Xhevat, have known Sedat since university, I invite you both to my home so that you can see the truth with your own eyes.” So, dear Sedat, we have an invitation that we shouldn’t refuse. All the more so because Mr. Zhulali has only recently moved into a new home. And, as custom dictates, we should take him a gift as well. Let’s decide together what it should be. Let me know which afternoon this week we can make the visit. We often meet, in the street or at the journalists’ club. You can also call me at 29609. If things are as you wrote, I too will write an article more critical than yours. If not, I believe you’ll have the manliness to offer a sincere apology. XHEVAT MUSTAFA

TO THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY

TO THE PRESIDIUM OF THE PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS TO THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS TO THE UNION OF EUROPEAN JOURNALISTS. The editorial offices of the newspapers «Rilindja Demokratike» and «Republika» strongly protest the insults and brutality inflicted on journalists Afrim Krasniqi and Ylli Rakipi by Albanian parliamentary deputies Ridvan Peshkëpia and Arben Imami: At midday on March 1, 1993, immediately after A. Hajdari’s press conference at the Palace of Congresses, an unidentified person threatened «RD» journalist Afrim Krasniqi with a revolver. Immediately after this scandal, deputy Ridvan Peshkëpia, acting in an official capacity, cursed and insulted the editor-in-chief of the newspaper «Republika», Ylli Rakipi. Then this same deputy, together with Arben Imami, took the incident further by provoking and kicking him. After that, the two aforementioned deputies stormed into the Palace lobby, where they provoked, insulted, and threatened «RD» journalist Afrim Krasniqi with thuggish language. Fortunately, the journalists’ composure prevented the deputies’ scandal from escalating further. — We have heard that such deputies are irresponsible for what they say in Parliament. Could it be that they are also irresponsible for the actions they carry out in public places? In response to this unprecedented act of hooliganism by the two deputies mentioned above, the editorial offices of the newspapers «RD» and «Republika» protest vigorously, considering this scandal a political act arising from malicious political motives and demonstrating the dominance of certain conservative clans over reason. The two editorial offices protest and call on the competent authorities to protect journalists and issue a statement concerning this scandal involving the two deputies of the People’s Assembly, so that the full freedom of press professionals to carry out their humanitarian mission may be ensured.

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