Yesterday, the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Sali Berisha, set off on an official and friendly visit to Turkey, at the invitation of the Turkish President, Mr. Suleyman Demirel. Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi, members of the government, and the Diplomatic Corps accredited in our country had come to Rinas Airport to see President Berisha off.

- 12 years' imprisonment for Fatos Nano - 3 years for Robert Gjini - 1 year for Hasan Hallkjen - Sokrat Plaka released on probation - A decision based on irrefutable facts and rigorous legal reasoning JUDGMENT “IN THE NAME OF THE LAW” The Tirana District Court, composed of: Agim Bendo—Presiding Judge Gjin Gjoni—member Alketa Gjyzari—member assisted by court clerks Arlinda Muço and Rudina Kamberi, with the participation of prosecutors Arben Qeleshi and Genci Gjokutaj, in Tirana, on March 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 26 and 30, as well as on 3.4.1994, in an open court session, heard criminal case No. 1118 / 1 concerning: 1. THE DEFENDANT FATOS NANO, son of Thanas and Marie, born in 1952, resident of Tirana, with a university degree in economics, married with two children, not previously convicted, member of the People's Assembly, with his immunity lifted, arrested on 30.7.1993. (His defense attorneys: Agim Tirana and Perparim Sanxhaku.) CHARGED: With committing the crime of misappropriating state property on a large scale, in the role of an accomplice, in the amount of 73,780,000 lek, as well as the crime of falsifying official documents, criminal offenses provided for under Articles 62 and 110 of the Criminal Code. 2. THE DEFENDANT SOKRAT PLAKA, son of Spiro and Polikseni, born in 1932, born in Fier and resident in Tirana, with a university education, not previously convicted under Article 35 of the Criminal Code, and, by combining the sentences, the prosecution requests that the defendant Fatos Nano be sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment. b)-That the defendant Sokrat Plaka be found guilty of the criminal offense of abuse of office, causing the state economic damage amounting to 73,780,000 lek, and, under Article 106 of the Criminal Code, be sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. c)-That the defendant Robert Gjini office, causing the state damage amounting to 399,390 sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment. d)-That the defendant Hasan Halko office, causing the state damage amounting to 144,821 sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment. e)-That all four defendants be ordered, under Article 155 of the Criminal Code, to compensate the Albanian state in the respective amounts for which they have been charged. Having examined investigative file No. 1118/1 against defendants Fatos Nano, Robert Gjini, Sokrat Plaka and Hasan Halko, charging these four defendants with the charges cited above. The trial of this criminal case in its entirety established the following: 1. Regarding the defendant Fatos Nano—At the time the democratic processes began in Albania, this defendant held important state offices. Thus, from December 1990 to January 31, 1991, he served as Secretary General of the Council of Ministers; from January 31 to February 21, 1991, as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers; and from February 22 to June 4, 1991, this defendant served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. It should be emphasized that the beginning of the democratic processes at that time coincided with the severe economic crisis created by the one-party rule that had governed our country for several decades, which compelled the officials of that period to seek aid from abroad. For this reason, we ... [the text is damaged/incomplete] ... As witness Adil Çarcani himself explained in court, at that time he had no knowledge whatsoever of the telegram dated 14.2.1991 sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or of the proposals made in it by us concerning the amount of emergency aid and the designation of Levante Co and Iliria Holding to deliver and distribute it, nor of the confirmation given on that occasion by the Italian side. He testified that he had never been informed of this matter throughout his time in office, either by witness Ramiz Alia (then president), defendant Fatos Nano (then his deputy), or witness Shkelqim Çani (also his deputy at the time). In his testimony in court, witness Adil Çarcani stressed, regarding the above, “I, as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, absolutely had to ...” in the role of accomplice, to 2 years' imprisonment. ... they have been charged. 2. The defendant Sokrat Plaka, in his final statement, and his defense attorney, Ali Meta, requested that justice acquit him and that the civil claim brought by the Tirana District Prosecutor's Office be dismissed. 3. The defendant Robert Gjini also requested in his final statement that he be acquitted of the criminal offense of abuse of office charged by the District Prosecutor's Office. He also requested that the civil claim be dismissed. His attorney, Roland Permeti, likewise requested in his closing argument that Robert Gjini be acquitted and the civil claim brought against him be dismissed. 4. The defendant Hasan Hallko requested justice from the panel of judges in his final statement; his attorney, Fatmir Braka, requested in his closing argument that Hasan Hallko be acquitted and the civil claim be dismissed. 5. The defendant Fatos Nano, for his part, did not say at all what he was asking of the panel of judges in his final statement, despite the panel asking him several times to do so. His attorneys, Perparim Sanxhaku and Agim Tirana, also declared that they did not wish to state a position either on acquittal or on guilt, despite being asked several times by the panel what their final request to the court was. It should be noted that in his defense argument, after analyzing the evidence examined during the trial, attorney Perparim Sanxhaku argued that defendant Fatos Nano was innocent of the charge of misappropriating state property on a large scale. Attorney Agim Tirana, in his defense argument, likewise analyzed the evidence and argued that the defendant was innocent not only of the misappropriation charge but also of falsifying official documents. After hearing the statements of the participants in the proceedings as set out above, studying the investigative file and the evidence examined at the court hearings, and deliberating on the case in its entirety, the court FINDS: On 17.2.1994, the Tirana District Prosecutor's Office submitted the case to this court for examination ... university education, not previously convicted, married, with one minor child, arrested on 26/7/1993; on 5.3.1994 the panel of judges changed his security measure from arrest to house confinement under guard. (His defense attorney: Ali Meta.) CHARGED: With committing the crime of abuse of office, causing the state economic damage in the amount of 73,780,000 lek, an offense provided for under Article 106 of the Criminal Code. 3. THE DEFENDANT ROBERT GJINI: Son of Irakli and Sofia, born in 1953, born in Berat convicted, married with two minor children, arrested on 27.7.1993. (His defense attorney: Roland Permeti.) the state damage amounting to 399,390 Criminal Code. 4. THE DEFENDANT HASAN HALLKO: son of Halim and Ismiana, born in 1945, born in Vlore and resident in Tirana, married, with one minor child, with a university education, arrested on 29.7.1993, not previously convicted. (His defense attorney: Fatmir Braka.) the state damage amounting to 399,390 Criminal Code. At the conclusion of the trial, conducted in the presence of the participants in the proceedings, after the judicial investigation had closed, they requested the following: 1. The prosecution, represented by District Prosecutor Arben Qeleshi and Prosecutor Gene Gjokutaj, in the closing argument delivered by Mr. Qeleshi, requested: a)-That defendant Fatos Nano be found guilty of the criminal offense of misappropriation of state property through abuse of office, for the benefit of other persons, on a large scale, in the amount of 73,780,000 lek, and, under Article 62 of the Criminal Code, be sentenced to 13 years' imprisonment. -That of falsifying official documents and, under Article 110 Finally, relying ... period to seek aid from abroad. For this reason, in early February 1991, the representative of the Italian government, Aleksandro Graflini, came to Albania and, after talks with the Albanian authorities of the time, promised that the Italian side would provide emergency aid in food and pharmaceutical products, worth up to 30 billion lire. On this basis, on 14.2.1991, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the Foreign Minister at the time was witness Reiz Malile) informed our former ambassador in Rome, witness Dashnor Dervishi, by telegram, instructing him to speak with the Italian authorities: first, to confirm the provision of emergency aid worth 30 billion lire; and second, to ask the Italian government to arrange for the aid to be supplied by the Italo-Yugoslav company “Levante-Co S.P.A Bari,” whose executive director was Xhuzepe Perniola, which would then forward the aid to Albania through “Iliria Holding S.A Tirane,” whose executive president was Hadjin Sejdia, and which would also distribute it domestically. The above telegram was sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the orders of former president Ramiz Alia. Also on 14.2.1991, the Italian side confirmed, in reply to the above telegram, the allocation of 30 billion lire in emergency aid for Albania. On this matter, witness Dashnor Dervishi (ambassador in Rome at the time) explained in telegram No. 181 of the same date, i.e. 14.2.1991, that the first 10 billion lire would be provided immediately, while the remaining 20 billion lire would be provided over the following 2-3 months. Meanwhile, the evidence presented at trial from the investigative and court files establishes that defendant Fatos Nano had been informed of the contents of the above telegram and the reply from the Italian side confirming the 30 billion lire in emergency aid for our country. At that time, he was Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and he informed the other witness, Shkelqim Cani (also then Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers). On the other hand, this defendant did not inform the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, witness Sokrat Plaka... Alia (then president), neither from the defendant Fatos Nano (at that time his deputy chairman), nor from the witness Shkelqim Cani (at that time also his deputy chairman). In fact, witness Adil Carçani, during his testimony in court, stressed that regarding the above-mentioned matter, to know.” Thus, in these circumstances, it appears that this witness was kept away from the aid issue. All the above is fully corroborated by the explanations given by the defendant Fatos Nano during the investigation phase (volume 2), the explanations given by the defendant Sokrat Plaka during the investigation and in court, the statements made by witnesses (during the investigation and in court), including Adil Çarçani, Ramiz Alia, Shkelqim Cani, Reiz Malile, Dashnor Dervishi, Shane Korbeci, Ridvan Qarri, etc., as well as the documentary evidence admitted during the trial. —After the events and episodes mentioned above, one fact that stands out among the many key moments of this trial is that on 22.2.1991, the defendant Fatos Nano took up his new post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, a position he held until 4.6.1991. Even after taking up his new post, this defendant made no effort to fulfil his legal obligations concerning the receipt of aid; specifically, he did not address the matter at meetings of the Council of Ministers. These obligations rested on him under the Constitution and the laws and regulations of the time, issued on its basis and for its implementation. Indeed, it emerged at trial that he never fulfilled these obligations throughout his entire tenure as Prime Minister, up to his departure and the movement of the aid. For example, it is worth mentioning that the issue of emergency aid was also discussed at a direct meeting between the defendant Fatos Nano and the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Klaudio Marteli, held on 11.3.1991. The other defendant, Sokrat Plaka, who was then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, also attended the meeting. At this meeting, our side asked the Italian side for the aid to be distributed free of charge to the population through a citizens’ commission to be set up for this purpose. On the other hand, however, neither the technical aspects of moving the aid nor the institutions responsible for it were discussed on this occasion. Also in March 1991, a government delegation headed by the witness Aleks Luarasi (then Secretary General of the Council of Ministers), during a visit to Italy, discussed with (CONTINUED ON PAGE 2)

-Who has Nano been, who is he, who put him at the head of the SP and why? -Who is defending Nano today, and why? Sunday's verdict against Nano marked the end of the odyssey of one of the crimes this former servant of communism had committed against Albanians. Fatos Nano, son of Thanas Nano, the persecutor at RTV, can only be regarded as a specimen of the dregs from which he came. Having learned to wage class war even within his closest family circle, Nano would very quickly become the favorite of the arch-criminals. His career can thus be considered one of the darkest of the dictatorship period. F. Nano went from N. Hoxha to the infamous Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies, then to E. Hoxha at the Central Committee of the PP. In 1983, when Hoxha had gathered his “most loyal” around him (after he had “destroyed” the hostile groups), Nano could be found at the PP Central Committee under number “321.” Then, after E. Hoxha's death, the old guard would raise its favorite higher and higher. The years ’89-’90 shook the foundations of communist dictatorship throughout Eastern Europe. Communist governments, some through violence and others through peaceful protests, would relinquish their seats. Far-off China would learn about Tiananmen, while F. Castro's beard continued to tremble nervously. Meanwhile, in Tirana, E. Hoxha's successor would throw his opponents behind prison doors, while communism in Albania would not fall. It was the same fist that E. Hoxha had used to strike down his opponents in ’56 and ’60. The same fist struck in ’72, when E. Hoxha, with the help of Th. Nano, persecuted all those who Everything—the loss of power, even prison—was now unavoidable; what mattered was saving whatever could be saved at that point, and the people they shared interests with. But, of course, who would these people be? Certainly new faces, unseen in the photographs and anathemas of the Political Bureau, but who were supposed to organize the wholesale concealment of the crimes of the regime. These people, just as loyal to communism, would take on the role of reformers and “benefactors” of the past. They Even if Nano is blindfolded, he has Ruçi behind him. India’s connection E.P.Kustos was opposite, staring with irritation. Meanwhile, in Tirana, E.Hoxha’s successor would pound his fist on the table, threatening that communism would not fall in Albania. It was the same fist E.Hoxha had pounded in ’56 and ’60. The same fist he pounded in ’72, when, with Th.Nano’s help, E.Hoxha persecuted everyone who expressed the view that Europe’s liberal spirit would pass over Albania too. But ’90 was neither ’56, with the Russian tanks, nor ’60, when Hoxha changed godfathers and moved from one man’s shadow to another’s. The year 1990 marked the peak of the economic crisis, whose evident consequences had been apparent since the beginning of the ’80s. Thus, although Alia pounded his fist in front of the other bloodsuckers, he knew well that the end had come. He knew that it was not simply the lack of freedoms, but the lack of everything necessary for life, that had brought Albanians in Kavaje, Shkoder and Tirana to their feet. If Alia had listened to the advice of the vampires shouting, “We won’t give up blood,” he knew he would be facing the army and an entire people, driven to the limits of survival, against the tanks’ iron tracks, which crush lives, and against the people’s clashes and revolutionary upheaval. In other words, Alia knew very well that even if he wiped out all the Albanians, the other half would trample them until they were reduced to dust. Under these circumstances, Alia decided to change course and present himself as a reformer, with the aim of “saving whatever can be saved.” To save his friends from inevitable retribution, he removed them from their posts, thinking that this would appease some of the people’s hatred. Alia and his friends calculated (Continued on page 4)

From the very beginnings of the democratic movement, it was predicted or understood that, in order to apply the ancient strategy of capturing the fortress from within, the agents of Ramiz Alia's state apparatus would be ordered to infiltrate the ranks of the democratic masses and the newly created parties of the democratic camp. According to the scenario and its script, they were instructed to conceal their past, their faces and their true spirits beneath a haze of verbal declarations, presenting themselves as anti-communists and democrats even more radical than those who had spent their lives in prisons and Enverian internment camps, had raised orphans and did not know where the graves of their fathers, disappeared by the dictatorship, were, and who, after all, had very strong motives for extreme anti-communism and revenge. Abdi Baleta apparently also joined this pack of wolves dressed in sheep's clothing. His positioning as a fervent anti-communist and one of the standard-bearers of right-wing extremism was truly absurd and unbelievable. Apart from privileges and benefits, Abdi Baleta had seen nothing else from Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia. If they made the lives of born anti-communists miserable by ... Apart from privileges and benefits, Abdi Baleta had seen nothing else from Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia. If they made the lives of born anti-communists miserable by (Continued on page 4)