London. Albanian President Sali Berisha welcomed media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi’s victory in Italy’s national elections and said that he thought relations between the two countries would improve. “I personally expect our relations with Italy to continue improving,” Berisha told reporters during an official visit to Britain. “Berlusconi is an intelligent man, and I think our relations will accelerate.” Berisha said he was not concerned by the fact that one of the parties in Berlusconi’s right-wing Free Alliance was the neo-fascist National Alliance. Former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini occupied Albania in 1939. “We have had bad days [in our relations with Italy], but we have also had good days,” he said.

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST FORMER PRIME MINISTER NANO At the start of yesterday’s session, the presiding judge gave the defendants and their counsel the final word. Defendant S.Plaka, rejecting the accusations against him, declared that he was innocent. To refute the accusation that no government decision had been taken regarding the note dated 4 March, Plaka said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted on behalf of the government “on the orders of the President or the Prime Minister.” Plaka based his defense more or less on the fact that Minister Kapllani was the one who had full knowledge of the aid being received, as well as the orders and faxes concerning it. Regarding the well-known fax on the basis of which the note was drafted, Plaka said it was ready, meaning that he had not drafted it; indeed, after Plaka asked for the note’s content to be changed, he was “ordered” to draft it according to the facts as they had arrived. “The fax arrived ready, with instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office through Kapllani,” the defendant Plaka said, and continued: “But who is being accused here—Nano, Kapllani? So what is Plaka doing here?” Speaking about the chart prepared on paper by V. Pulaj, Plaka was asked by the presiding judge what he knew about Nano’s and Kapllani’s instructions. Plaka replied: “I have said this several times, and I do not deny it in any way.” “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs always acted according to the orders of the President or the Prime Minister, or both together,” Plaka added, referring to M.Kapllani’s claims as unfounded. Expressing complete confidence in the court, Plaka asked to be acquitted and for justice. For his part, lawyer Meta tried to prove that it was not the 4 March note that determined the matter for Levante Co. Lawyer Meta also asked for acquittal and justice. Defendant R.Gjini began with a lengthy statement about his family background, saying it had never been connected with the PP, and sought to prove that he had been appointed deputy minister and minister at the time because of his work, not because of such connections. Regarding the case, he disputed the accusation that the declarations had been drawn up on the basis of copies provided by Levante Co, “since Levante Co requested them in kilograms and liters,” whereas Gjini had prepared them in pallets. Gjini also stated that he was not the person who was supposed to take delivery of the goods, and that inspection of the goods was the responsibility of SGS and Albkontroll; even the payment to Levante Co was made according to SGS invoices. These statements raise several questions again: - Why did Levante Co request invoices in kilograms and liters when they had merely an administrative procedural effect, and why were some declarations made in quantities? - Why did Levante Co and Nano insist that declarations be issued when they had no value and involved no payment, and when it was officially the Italian embassy that was receiving the goods? He was the last to say that he had no knowledge of them, since Agrosport had not informed him of any shortages. Gjini accused Albkontroll of the violations. Finally, he too expressed confidence in the court and asked for acquittal and justice. R.Gjini’s lawyer emphasized, in addition to the above, that R.Gjini’s position did not allow him to handle the delivery of goods. (But it has been established so far that R.Gjini too took up the post by order, after initially objecting.) The lawyer assigned responsibility for the violations to Albkontroll, Unit 101/k and the Port of Durres, absolving his client of responsibility for them. Finally, regarding the accusation concerning the difference of 23 million lire in the goods from the ferry Palladio, lawyer Permeti said that they had been “stolen and misappropriated in warehouses.” Lawyer Permeti also asked for acquittal and justice, expressing confidence in the court. Defendant Hallka called the accusations unfounded and, addressing the presiding judge, said that, bearing in mind Mr. Bendo’s record to date, he had complete confidence in his justice. Hallka’s lawyer recalled that his case should have been separate from the others. Regarding the declarations signed by his client, the lawyer said that they were not documents acknowledging receipt of the goods and that Hallka had signed them on the basis of information provided by Albkontroll. ARAJ ...letter from Prime Minister, or both together,” Plaka said later. Speaking earlier in his closing statement, Plaka said that R.Qami’s statements had negatively influenced the accusation against him. - were some declarations made in quantities? - receiving the goods? Regarding the shortages on the ship carrying rice, shortages that are not reflected in R.Gjini’s declaration, he too opposed the policies of the former PP. The statement calls for those responsible for all the massacres, which were inhuman and anti-civilian, to be tried by the justice authorities and punished. Enver Hoxha and his close collaborators. It also calls for the titles “Hero of the People” to be removed from Enver Hoxha, Ramiz Alia and Shefqet Peçi, and for a commission to be established to examine the reasons why they and other people received this title. the basis of information provided by Albknotrolli. They asked for acquittal and justice.

THE BIG BLUFF OF THE “SECRET” FILE Finally, Mr. Bendo gave the floor to Nano’s defense. Naturally, everyone present was extremely interested, since for 12 hearings Nano and his defense had not spoken about the case in court, while outside the proceedings they had said more than that. Where the lawyers for Nano had “left off,” they could not go any further, even if they had 100 files in their hands. But what were Sanxhak’s legal arguments in defense? The defense’s “secrets” Sanxhak’s “secrets” would turn out to be nothing but a bluff. He read out the 8 contracts that Enriko de Majo had made with Perniola for the aid that was to be sent to Albania. For several minutes Sanxhaku read figures from the contracts, then added them up, and according to this calculation... Even Nano is astonished by his defense’s “arguments” Photo: A. Babani

In a statement, the Independent Political and Democratic Organization of Veterans and Disabled Persons of the National Liberation War fully supports the statement made by Democratic Party deputy Uran Butka in the People’s Assembly, calling for the Enverist communist dictatorship to be legally condemned. For 47 consecutive years, it killed people without trial, [in terno?], and imprisoned thousands upon thousands in concentration camps, solely because they did not agree with and opposed the policies of the former PP.

The new agreement is a strong basis for increasing the flow of Austrian investment in Albania and deepening relations, say Ministers Belortaja and Schussel. The potential of the relationship remains untapped, it was noted at the meeting. Two Austrian delegations from the fields of Economy and Industry and Transport will soon visit Albania. At the invitation of Austrian Federal Minister for the Economy Dr.Wolfgang Schussel, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Albania, Mr.Selim Belortaja, headed a delegation from that Ministry on an official visit to Austria in recent days. At the meeting held at the Ministry of the Economy, Albania’s Minister of Industry and Trade, Mr. Selim Belortaja, gave a concise account of the progress of economic reform in Albania, its positive results, privatization and the liberalization of prices in practice, the presence of foreign investment and the adopted legal framework. He emphasized that there was still hope of seeing this reform implemented and the incentive reforms continued, with support for political stability, resources, intellectual potential and a comprehensive body of legislation. Mr. Belortaja went on to address the issues of inflation being under control and, he said, low; the stability and convertibility of the currency in Albania; and efforts to integrate and cooperate. He thanked his Austrian counterpart for the considerable moral and material assistance provided by the Austrian state and by Austrian firms and companies that had begun operating in Tirana, and expressed the wish that other Austrian companies would come to Albania, a matter of great interest to the Albanian government. Austrian Federal Minister Dr.Wolfgang Schussel emphasized the significant expansion of relations between the two countries in recent times, not only in politics but also in the economy. The Austrian Minister of the Economy continued by referring to the positive assessments of Albania’s reform and its progress by international institutions and the International Monetary Fund, the legislation on foreign investment adopted by the Albanian Parliament, and the clear strategy of the Albanian government. “The conversation with my Albanian counterpart strengthens my conviction that relations between our two countries will see new developments, in which Austrian investment and support from the Austrian government will undoubtedly be greater.” Both ministers noted that the potential of their relations remained untapped and that the signing of this agreement opened the way to increasing the flow of Austrian investment into Albania. As a conclusion to the meeting, it was agreed that a large Austrian delegation in the field of the Economy would come in a relatively short time to examine concrete projects for future cooperation. The two ministers then signed the Agreement between Albania and Austria, Mr.Belortaja for the Albanian side and Mr.Schussel for the Austrian side, on ... (Continued on page 2)

Photo: A. Babani ...declared that they would “attack” and bring out their 100-page “secret” file. Nano himself asked to speak after his lawyer, and the presiding judge granted this request too. Everyone present thus focused on listening to Sanxhaku’s “secrets,” which were supposed to “destroy” the accusation against Nano. It is once again confirmed that Nano and his lawyers’ aim is not a legal defense For the tenth time, Sanxhaku began his speech by talking about procedural violations during the investigation. But since these, as I mentioned, were not “secrets” at all and had been closed as an issue by a ruling of the court, Bendo interrupted the lawyer, making it clear to him once again that the preliminary motions phase had ended with a ruling that only the court of appeal had the right to overturn. Mr. Bendo then gave lawyer Sanxhaku another 15 minutes to prepare. When the hearing resumed 15 minutes later, before beginning his speech Sanxhaku declared that he would present a partial defense, to the extent that he had been able to familiarize himself with the case file. The presiding judge then thought it appropriate to inform those present that, at Sanxhaku’s request, he had allowed him to examine the file during these days at the previous hearing. Sanxhaku again declared that in two days he had managed to look at only 150 pages, but here his bluff was exposed. Bendo made it clear that the file had been made available from the first day after Sanxhaku’s request, but he had not returned to court. Asked about this, Sanxhaku replied that “Sunday was his day off.” Is this not an outrageous bluff? Until now they have claimed that they had not had time to prepare motions; now Sanxhaku declares that he could not give up his day off. Does this not clearly show that they are not interested in defending their client (and this is connected with the conclusion Nano draws), but in inventing “procedural violations” and obstructing the proceedings? Later, the presiding judge would say had complete confidence in his justice. Sanxhaku’s first point was to establish that Nano had not appropriated anything: “Was the money stolen, or were the prices high?” He played the role of someone who did not understand, trying to show that since the goods had been bought at high prices, Levante Co had not profited either. According to Sanxhaku, this had to be proved with invoices, but Sanxhaku “forgets” that when Perniola, who is a partner, prepares the invoices, it is not difficult to put whatever prices one wants on them. For example, a kilo of rice that may cost 500 lire can be listed on the invoice as costing 1,000 lire; but the fact that 1,000 rather than 500 is written on the invoice does not mean that this was the actual price—it means that Perniola wanted to put that amount down. Sanxhaku should also not forget that Perniola is an accused in Italy precisely for this reason. The next point Sanxhaku tried to prove was whether the aid was state property or not. This was more or less the idea already expressed earlier: according to them, stealing the aid does not count as theft. Sanxhaku cited Somalia, which was promised aid that was never delivered, trying to argue that aid is not considered the property of the recipient state. But Sanxhaku again made a mistake in his comparison: unlike Somalia, the aid arrived in Albania and Levante Co received the money for it. As for Somalia’s aid, the Italian justice system is dealing with that matter. In any case, Sanxhaku’s biggest bluff came when, with what was supposedly the evidence in the “secret” file (which turned out to be available to the court as well), he tried to prove that all the aid had arrived in Albania. Lawyer Sanxhaku put it this way: “I will prove to you with facts that all the aid arrived in Albania.” The full value of the goods was accounted for; that is, out of 20 billion, it appeared that for every 10 billion in aid, at least 9.5 billion in aid had been delivered. This emerged from the contracts between Perniola and Enriko De Majo and from Sanxhaku’s calculations. According to Sanxhaku’s calculations—because when questioned by the presiding judge, Sanxhaku admitted that he had arrived at those figures on the basis of “calculations he had made himself,” not those of specialists. But is this the defense’s biggest bluff? First, as I mentioned above, Perniola himself has admitted that he did not send the last medicines to Albania. Second, the contracts Sanxhaku relies on were made between Perniola and De Majo in Italy and cannot confirm what goods arrived in Albania; and the not insignificant fact is that both of the above-mentioned men are accused in Italy in this case. Third, calculations in documents are not made by lawyers but by experts, since Sanxhaku might have concluded that even more aid had arrived than had been allocated. The fact is that the Italian experts (not the Albanian ones, whom Nano does not like) made the calculations, and their figures do not match Sanxhaku’s. Their expert report was read out in court and submitted to the court, but apparently, being “outside the proceedings,” the lawyers were not listening to what was being said in the courtroom, and put these materials in a “secret file.” Lawyer Sanxhaku also tried to prove that Levante Co had not been appointed by the Albanian side but by the Italian side, and cited Italian law to support this, making another mistake. It is true that under Italian law the company should have been appointed by the Italian side through a tender, but the case of Levante Co was considered “exceptional,” and the Italian witnesses who had approved this arrangement themselves testified that this “exceptional nature” resulted from the Albanian side’s wish and insistence. Lawyer Sanxhaku said that Albania had been treated as a special case because of the bad conditions and that the law had therefore allowed Levante Co to be appointed, but the fact was that De... (Continued on page 4)