Mr. Eduard Selami, Tritan Shehu, Ministers Uka and Çela in Pukë: “The DP was created by young people and will always have their support” The gentlemen Eduard Selami and Tritan Shehu, ministers Rexhep Uka and Kudret Çela, and local MPs Simon Puci and Marash Ibra met with residents of the Pukë district. They first stopped at the Lufi Commune, where local residents welcomed them warmly. The commune’s chairman, Mr. Zef Çoku, acquainted those present with the achievements of the past two years. Thus, he said, this commune alone receives around 21 million lekë a month from the state in social assistance for families with little or no income. A marked advance can also be seen in the allocation and implementation of state-funded investments. Construction projects worth 120 million lekë have been completed, including the school in Korthpulë, which was inaugurated just ahead of 7 March; several other schools have also been repaired, and existing walls have been treated. Alongside these achievements, the commune chairman also raised several concerns, such as the possibility of an organized relocation of the 140 families who, after being displaced from the hydroelectric plant basin, have been left without land; the deterioration of the Pukë–Shkodër road; the indiscriminate destruction of forests, etc. Then, amid enthusiastic calls of “Freedom—Democracy,” “Long live President Berisha,” and so on, Mr. Eduard Selami took the floor. After offering words of greeting and conveying President Berisha’s greetings to those present, Mr. Selami addressed the residents of Lufi, telling them that from the very beginning they had sensed that the best alternative was the one they chose by voting for the DP in the local government elections as well. “I am glad that you have invested in schools. Albania is a young country with more than two million people…” (Continued on page 4)

—SHANE KORBECI SENDS FATOS NANO FOR APPROVAL THE LIST OF FOODSTUFFS THAT WERE TO BE SUPPLIED BY THE ITALIAN SIDE. THIS LIST CONCERNS: — SHANE KORBECI SENDS FATOS NANO FOR APPROVAL THE LIST OF FOODSTUFFS THAT WERE TO BE SUPPLIED BY THE ITALIAN SIDE. THIS LIST CONCERNS: 1) RICE—10,000 TONS; 2) SUGAR—15,000 TONS; 3) POWDERED MILK—1,000 TONS; 4) BUTTER—1,000 TONS; 5) MEAT AND SAUSAGE—3,000 TONS; 6) CHEESE—1,000 TONS; 7) REFINED SUNFLOWER OIL, IN BULK—15,000 TONS. — A FEW DAYS LATER PERNIOLA PRESENTS ANOTHER LIST, ASKING THAT IT NOT BE CHANGED. FATOS NANO THEN GIVES THIS INSTRUCTION: “COMRADE ALEKO, COMRADE GAVROSH. THIS IS THE LIST OF GOODS. THE IMPORTANT THING IS FOR THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL TRADE AND THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH TO DRAW UP A JOINT DOCUMENT AS RECIPIENTS, CONFIRMING RECEIPT OF THE QUANTITIES OF GOODS ACCORDING TO (PAGE 2). WITH THIS IN HAND, ROBERTI AND LUTFIU WILL APPEAR AS OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR SIDE TO THE OWNER OF THE FERRY, TOGETHER WITH THE PEOPLE FROM THE ITALIAN EMBASSY. OTHERWISE, UNLOADING WILL NOT BEGIN.” WHICH GOODS WERE RECEIVED ACCORDING TO NANO’S INSTRUCTION? — PAGE NO. 2 REFERS TO: CANNED PEAS IN 500 g TINS, FRUIT JUICE, MARMALADE AND JAM IN JARS, ETC. THESE ITEMS REPLACED THE RICE, SUGAR, BUTTER, MEAT AND SAUSAGE, CHEESE, ETC.—BASIC FOODSTUFFS NEEDED BY THE HUNGRY ALBANIAN PEOPLE. FOR THIS CRIMINAL ACT, FORMER PRIME MINISTER NANO GAVE HIS APPROVAL. [Text cut off at the upper edge]

Nano’s conduct at the trial is now well known. He refuses to speak and give explanations about what he is accused of, although through such explanations and “facts” he should prove what he has maintained so far: that he is “innocent.” Nano does not do this because he has no way to defend himself, and the fact is that, at one point when his “mouth slipped” and he began to speak about the case, he made statements that proved the absurdity of his justifications for the violations he committed. To avoid giving explanations, Nano has found a banal and completely false excuse. If he had not found this one, he would have found another similar one—for example, that he cannot give explanations because he does not like the color with which the courtroom has been painted, or he would demand that the panel of judges be changed because the chairman’s shoe size is not what it ought to be. But the real reason, as I mentioned above, is that he cannot defend himself; knowing this, knowing that he is guilty and will be convicted, he is trying, as part of the game he has started, to protest later to those who do not know him, saying that he was convicted irregularly. There is no longer any doubt that Nano cannot defend himself, but it is interesting that “ZP” too should prove that he is guilty. The fact is that so far “ZP” has published only Nano’s political statements. Not a single other word, fact, or report that sheds light on the case. It published S. Plaka’s testimony, thinking it was in their favor, but it did not publish his answers to the prosecutor’s questions, in which he clearly testifies that the orders came “from above,” from the “Prime Minister’s Office”—that is, from Nano. “ZP” publishes all the claims of lawyer Sanxhaku but does not write a word about prosecutor Gjokutaj’s answers; indeed, it says that the prosecutor “answered in his own way, that is, he did not answer.” But if the prosecutor “did not answer,” that is, failed to refute Nano’s claims, why doesn’t “ZP” publish his answers to “prove” that Nano is right? If the prosecutor was unable to answer Nano’s claims, that would be in “ZP’s” favor, so they should publish them to substantiate what they say. But of course “ZP” cannot publish facts that expose its lies to date. It could not report how Gjokutaj caught Nano and his lawyers out. So “ZP” publishes facts and it is suspected that “RD” published both Nano’s claims and the prosecutor’s answers from the confrontation, which ended up exposing precisely Nano and his lawyers, who were then forced to ask for “some of the claims to be withdrawn.” With this treatment of the case involving its own chairman, which “ZP” has been forced to give, it is proving that Nano cannot defend himself because he is guilty. EDI PALOKA

—You, who call the former politically persecuted people handicapped and eunuchs, can you truly represent the ideals of European democratic socialism?! who call the former politically persecuted people handicapped and eunuchs, can you truly represent the ideals of European democratic socialism?! It was an unbelievable, unimaginable, painful and deeply shocking statement that Luan Hajdaraga made about the politically persecuted, when he shamelessly, with devilish malice and pathological hatred, stripped of everything human and every humane perception, made this posthumous remark: “I don’t know how these eunuchs would fight.” This statement came after he had called the politically persecuted “those Albanians who never accepted communist doctrine and Enverian totalitarianism, among the darkest known to history, handicapped.” The first question I would put to Luan Hajdaraga after these irresponsible statements is: are you a human being, you who brought those calamities and miseries upon the Albanian people for half a century? These martyrs of freedom, national awareness and civic conscience spared neither themselves nor their families, but through their heroic resistance they showed that freedom, national awareness and civic conscience cannot be uprooted or destroyed from the Albanian soul by anyone—not even by a monster such as the dictatorship, which you, “professor,” with your abilities (abilities?!)—no, no, with your wickedness—tried to justify, shape and perpetuate by creating a distorted, laboratory-made being like yourself: “the new man,” the ultimate degeneration of the human race, seeking precisely the opposite of a human being—the anti-human. It was precisely these former politically persecuted and exiled people who showed us through their deeds how the nation was sinking, how human beings were being trampled, how every value was being destroyed. They bore witness through the younger generations, crying out to our very consciences, while you, together with your comrades and colleagues (whom today you dare to insult shamelessly), were trying to [unreadable in the source]—trying to narcotize our souls, seeking to erase every human thing from them and turn us into monsters. It is precisely these former exiles and politically persecuted people who, during these three years of democratic processes, set an extraordinary example of awareness of freedom, tolerance, and democratic and civic conscience. They did so in the name of the nation’s future, in the name of our salvation, because they had not sacrificed themselves for nothing, because they had not sacrificed themselves… [continues] And as for you, you have the insane audacity to insult and humiliate them, to call them handicapped and eunuchs. Are you truly a political leader who represents the aspirations of European democratic socialism? No, Luan Hajdaraga, you have nothing in common with Europe, nothing in common with anything humane. You are [text as printed is garbled]. You are a blind [text partly illegible] in the current of Enverism, with a truly unpredictable diagnosis. Unfortunately, sir… Still, it is good that you find every illusory veil for yourself and… [partly illegible] LAZER STANI [Photograph of a man at a press conference, with the sign “REPRESI”]

“The Nano case” in court On Monday, the second hearing of the court proceedings concerning the aid scandal continued. The presiding judge first gave the floor to Robert Gjini, former secretary-general of the Ministry of Trade, to give his explanations. “Although I objected, they ordered me to receive the goods” R. Gjini is accused of having, during the period in question, signed statements acknowledging receipt of goods without specifying their quantities and composition. In addition, it was found that the goods were missing. R. Gjini declared that he was not guilty because the 101/K unit was supposed to handle the goods. “That was not my duty,” said R. Gjini, “and it was not within the remit of my position.” But the fact is that, under an authorization, he was assigned to handle the receipt of the goods as a representative of the Albanian state. Here is what he says about this: “The decision came from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Ministry. I told the minister that I did not deal with this work, but he told me that if I did not go, the aid would not arrive.” So why was the condition imposed: “If this is not done, the aid will not come”? Once again, people are appointed who are not responsible for those sectors. And once again Nano’s name appears, since this action too was carried out on the basis of a note from Nano. The trial established that, of the statements drawn up by R. Gjini, only the first specified the quantity and type of goods; the others did not. R. Gjini said that his role was only to confirm the arrival of the goods, not to record their quantities. Then why had he recorded them in the first statement and not in the others? Could someone “from above” have forced him to do this too? Furthermore, the first statement, which specified the quantities and types of goods, was drawn up before those goods had even arrived. Asked about this, R. Gjini said that they “already knew beforehand” the quantities and types of goods that would arrive. From whom? Could that too have come from R. Alia’s fax and Nano’s hand? As S. Plaka testified, without this statement issued by R. Gjini—or others like it—the goods could not be unloaded. In a conversation between R. Gjini and Permiola, when the latter came to Albania, Gjini expressed concern about the goods. Permiola replied: “I sent the goods that the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told me to send.” “As for the prices, I don’t set them; I only take them to the Ministry.” It is known, however, that the truth is different. Permiola was required to send the goods requested by the Albanian government—that is, the goods the Albanian people needed—and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs approved precisely the requests made by the Albanian government. According to information from his testimony and that of others, H. Hallko, a department director at the Ministry of Trade, said that their side had prepared a list of the goods needed, based on the requests and the food-ration coupons. Here, as R. Gjini testified, when the Italian ambassador was asked about the prices and composition of the goods, he replied: “These are aid supplies.” Nevertheless, R. Gjini does not answer the question of why he agreed, even if ordered from above, to carry out actions that he himself considered irregular. —R. Gjini’s lawyer defends F. Nano and Levante Co— It seems strange, but R. Gjini’s lawyer, although he was supposed to defend the latter, tried to justify the violations by Nano and Levante Co rather than denounce them, even though it was precisely they who had pushed his client into the violations he committed. Thus, while “defending” R. Gjini, he stated that “F. Nano issued a lawful order for unit 101/K to handle the goods.” Why does this lawyer feel compelled to clarify whether Nano’s orders were or [Continued on page 2] [Caricature: “CORRUPTION, FORGERIES”]

CORRUPTION FORGERIES

—You, who call the former political persecuted people …