Meetings by Messrs. Selami, Shehu, Spahia, Uka, Halili, and Mesdames Hasko and Kaurri with residents of the Libofshë area. The election campaign for the elections for commune mayor is nearing its end. One more day, and the people of Libofshë will show that they have learned how to use their vote. Messrs. Eduard Selami, Tritan Shehu, Ali Spahia, Ministers Uka and Halili, MPs Lazar Lengu, Mira Kaurri, Fadil Çepele, and FGO chairwoman Flutura Hasko held enthusiastic meetings with residents of the villages of Ndermenas, Agim, and Libofshë in the Libofshë area. “You know my qualities; I know your concerns...” Introducing Mr. Nikollaq Filipi as the DP candidate for commune mayor was the purpose of these meetings. And Nikollaq himself, when meeting his fellow villagers, presented himself just as they knew him: calm, hardworking, and dedicated. He promised the people of Libofshë that he would commit himself to solving their problems. “You know my qualities; I know your problems,” he told them, “so it will be my pleasure to serve you in solving the most urgent problems you have, if you give me your vote of confidence.” Thus, the DP candidate promised that he would earn the vote, and did not beg for it with lies and dishonest propaganda, as his rival did. “We want the votes of those who have

The issue the PS latched onto in this election campaign was the price of electricity. Even members and supporters of the DP mentioned this fact as something emotionally painful. “This was the only solution,” Mr. Selami said regarding this problem. We must understand that economic policy is made for everyone—everyone—he added, saying that this is the final economic measure to your detriment. He appealed to the people of Libofshë to remember the situation when the price of bread was liberalized. That liberalization, too, took place before the elections of ’26 July. Some people told us that we should have done it after the elections. But we do not base our activity on deception. Others make a profession of that. Those who said at the time that the price of bread, etc., would skyrocket. And there you have it: reality confirmed who was right. It confirmed who was right.

From the trial of the former Communist leadership Her name was Filloreta Çemi. She was the mother of one of the children killed at the border. With her slight build, she hardly stood out in the courtroom. Their bodies were thrown into a shallow pit covered with leaves, and were recovered only after their parents’ persistent search. For more than a year, the parents had gone from office to office and endured every kind of humiliation, solely because they were seeking their son’s body. The head of the Korçë Interior Branch, Qamil Lanaj, to whom the parents went to ask for their sons’ bodies, told them: “Don’t go, because we have ordered the border guards to shoot and kill anyone who approaches. We have an order from Comrade Simon Stefani: whoever approaches the border must be killed, and the bodies must not be handed over.” Why? To conceal the crime, the massacres committed, and the truth. Despair drove Filloreta Çemi to write to R. Alia as well, asking for her son’s body. Only after the third letter did the reply arrive: “They would get them when the time came.” And the time would come, but only after their time had passed. For Filloreta, dressed in black, all that remains is a bag she carries everywhere. Inside are her son’s photographs (including two photographs of the murdered boy that we are publishing) and the death certificate. Look at this boy, whose life was taken only because he could take no more. “I will leave, because I am tired of life here, and as long as the communists are in power...” Simon Stefani, the former Minister of the Interior accused of the border killings, had stood up and was speaking. Arrogantly, he was spouting Communist slogans as if he were still on the podiums of PP congresses. “I am innocent,” “enemies,” “the Party”... It seems a mother’s heart could not bear it for long: “The criminals took the light of my eyes, and now they say they are innocent.” The chilling cries and tears of that mother overwhelmed the people around her. Artan Çemi, 24, together with his friend Mehmet Nurja, set out to cross the border on 16 June 1990. The day before, they had heard about a change in the law that no longer considered crossing the border “treason.” “We were poor,” says Filloreta. “I never fulfilled one of my son’s wishes. He was young and wanted a pair of jeans. I could never buy them for him.” Artan set out to leave, but... According to the testimony of some former residents of Dardhë, Artan and Mehmet were killed on Sunday, 17 June, shot in the back. “I will leave when the communists are no longer in power...” [?] “...we will never see better days”—these were the last words Artan had said, while today his mother seeks justice: “My soul will not be at peace until the criminals, those who killed my angel, are punished.” E.P.

rival did. This is what Mr. Selami said to the residents of Libofshë. But what did he do by making such a request? He asked for the votes of the majority of the people of Libofshë. Because the majority have benefited from the DP’s government. On average, they have 4 dynym, which is privately owned. Their material wellbeing is secured, and it is incomparable with the past. “We have achieved this through our own hard work,” Mr. Selami refers to the refrain, the repeated refrain heard from the mouth of some unrealistic villager. Agreed, but you had your strength yesterday too—in fact, it was greater because you were younger—and yet you were destitute and inspired pity. Whereas today, the progress at this stage is due not only to your efforts, but also to the DP, which gave you the opportunity to put private initiative into practice and reap the fruits of your labor. “Difficulties in marketing the products are a concern that both pleases us and obliges us,” Mr. Selami said in response to this claim. It pleases us because we have been delighted to reach the point where you have products destined for the market, but we also feel obliged to resolve this concern.

Recognizing the urgent needs arising from the reality of the Libofshë area, an area that had agricultural and livestock products for the market, as well as needs for drinking water and electricity. Through its investments, the Democratic Government managed to address these concerns of the people of Libofshë. The initiatives in this direction were not driven by the election campaign, but solely by the villagers’ need for them. The emotional aspect is something else. It stems from the DP’s consistency in keeping its promises and fulfilling its obligations. Initiatives of this kind have been stigmatized by the DP’s rival as electioneering. Thus, the PS curses the DP for its electioneering efforts. The PS curses the DP and its efforts because it builds roads and water supply systems, because it repairs transformers. This is ironic and an attempt to mock the people of this area because...

If the DP concludes that Libofsha needs them and has the proper order, it did not receive this conclusion from the commune’s Socialist leaders. For around two years, none of the commune’s concerns has been “submitted” to the ministry ...

He appealed to the memory of the people of Libofsha about the situation when the price of bread was liberalized. This Some people told us we should do activity on deception. Others make a profession of it. Those who said at the time that famine would descend upon us, and so on and so forth. And there you are: reality proved who was right. Two free elections have also been held in Libofsha. In the elections of 31 March, Libofsha voted for the Party of Labour, which means it voted for the cooperative and collective livestock herds. In the elections of 22 March, it voted for the PS, that is, for taking land into use. And although the DP did not win, the farmers of Libofsha benefited greatly as a result of the implementation of the DP’s programme for the countryside. That is why even the most fanatical peasant’s mentality has evolved into the “form” of: “Why remind us of the cooperative? It’s not coming back.” This is attributable to the DP and serves as a measure of its work. Because the implementation of its programme established a private economy in agriculture, capitalism in the countryside. The implementation of the DP’s programme for the countryside made it possible for everyone to enjoy the fruits of their efforts. Reasoning in this way, Mr Selami highlighted the responsibility involved in voting, and the need this time to give one’s vote to the person who created opportunities to benefit. There is a saying: if you deceive me once, it’s your fault; but if you deceive me a second time, it’s my fault. But I do not believe this saying will come true in the Libofsha area, because it stands for democracy and social progress. It will know how to respect its opportunity.

The common goal of the two political forces in the election campaign was pursued through different paths. The Democratic Party justified its vote by pointing to what it has done and can do for Libofsha. It based its natural request for a vote of confidence on the choice of a candidate equipped with the right qualities to carry out the difficult task of commune chairman. In other words, the DP based its election campaign on affirming itself. Its rival, by contrast, chose the opposite path: an attempt to confront and denigrate the DP. “Libofsha will be like Stalingrad for Nazism,” Dokle said, thus continuing the old refrain of presenting the DP as a fascist party. The PS chose the path of exaggerated promises, blocking the commune’s social assistance, and failing to present the problems and concerns of the area. It put forward a candidate who has so far served as commune chairman—that is, a candidate proven incapable of resolving the problems that can be resolved. Tomorrow Libofsha will vote for the democracy that has served it well. SHIPETIM LUKU

—According to their logic, the system was guilty and they were the victims— The curtain rises again on the trial of R. Alia and eight other senior officials of the communist dictatorship. Yesterday, the hearing continued at the Tirana District Court, presided over by Judge Andi Çeliku, in the case against the defendants Ramiz Alia, Hekuran Isai, Manush Myftiu, Rita Marko, Simon Stefani, Aranit Çela, Rrapi Mino, Zylyftar Ramizi and Vezir Haderi. According to the planned order, the presiding judge first gave the floor to defendant Simon Stefani, former member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Internal Affairs. This defendant’s testimony was awaited with interest because part of the indictment concerns the killings at the border in 1990, when Simon Stefani was Minister of Internal Affairs. The defendant Stefani tried to exonerate himself by using the familiar theory that everything was decided by the Party and that it was a party-state with decision-making power. Thus he called the platform governing the activity of State Security lawful. He likewise justified the line at the border on the grounds that it was part of the duty prescribed by law. Nevertheless, the defendant said, “... I have never, in any case, given an order to open fire at the border on our citizens.” Judge Andi Çeliku then read out an order issued by this defendant while he was minister, which stated: “ The Border Command’s order not to open fire is annulled, but [it is] to act with caution.” Anyone can understand, then, that annulling the order “Do not open fire” means that fire is to be opened—that is, that people are to act. In his response to the charge against this defendant, prosecutor Fana said that former minister Stefani should have issued an order not to open fire at the border, especially since he had legal protection and the president’s decree allowed it, as that decree did not classify illegal border crossing as treason against the homeland. But in fact this defendant did the opposite, which led to the loss of many Albanian lives: they were punished simply because they sought a better life beyond communist isolation. In his defence, Hekuran Isai, Affairs, declared at the outset that he did not accept the charge. Delivering a pathetic speech with touches of humour, as he used to do, he tried to convince the court that the party-state was to blame for everything; indeed, as he put it, he and his comrades had sold Albania cheaply to the Democrats. In other words, he had handed over power not at gunpoint, but peacefully and without bloodshed. He had known how to act as in Romania and in Tiananmen Square, where blood was spilled and students were crushed by tanks. According to Hekuran, everything under socialism had been done well, except for the class struggle, which, he said, he had asked not to be applied, but no one had paid attention to him. Defendant Hekuran Isai called the charge of violating equality among citizens unsupported by law. “If the Code of Criminal Procedure speaks of a violation of citizens’ equality, it is referring to national minorities,” this defendant explained. As for other methods of recruiting citizens to collaborate, Hekuran Isai said this was a legitimate act, and if a suicide had occurred because of it, I have no reason to blame myself. (This referred to a citizen from Kruja who had been forcibly taken by the State Security organs for recruitment.) He had been put in the 15-storey Biotel, and, because of the investigator’s negligence, one day he went into the adjoining room and jumped from the eighth-floor window. Thus this citizen lost his life simply because he refused to put himself at the disposal of the infamous State Security. The defendant also called the internment commissions lawful. “In general, I interned people from the families of ministers. You know,” he said, “that all the Ministers of Internal Affairs were either killed or committed suicide. That is why we needed people from their families, to intern them and recruit them. We followed the law, and if mistakes were made, they were for subjective reasons.” He then went on to say what the last economic measure against them was. The defendant began to describe the activities of the internal affairs bodies, recounting fragments: “When I took over as minister,” he said, “there was that group of conspirators involved in tracking intellectuals, and another dealing with students. I laughed; I was the one who abolished those groups. “I did not agree to opening fire on the students. I did not allow the head of the Durrës branch to shoot at the citizens who had gathered at the port to leave for Italy. I did not allow a commander in Tirana to act when he told me he was ready to act with weapons and 100 officers to install Enver’s statue. I did not agree to shoot on 20 February...” President Alia’s testimony was awaited with great interest, but people were left disappointed, because instead of conducting an autopsy of the communist system’s entire criminal activity, he tried to defend himself using essentially the same arguments as the defendants who had spoken before him. The Party’s decisions on the treatment of the leadership had been lawful; the State Security platform had been lawful. “We treated Nezhmije Hoxha, even after Enver’s death, in order to keep the unity of the nation high. The banning of religious belief and the destruction of churches and mosques were carried out by the youth themselves,” etc. Although on this issue defendant Alia refused to speak at length, stressing that it was a political matter and that he could answer for it only before the members of his party. In conclusion, he declared that his trial was a political trial, while his lawyer Kleanti Koçi said that the proceedings against him were unconstitutional. Prosecutor Fana clarified that the charge was based on concrete facts, and that it was the people who had put him on political trial on 2 March. Prepared by: ZEF LLESHI

Regarding the disinformation in the reports issued by the Greek mass media and the Greek government concerning the trial and arrest of 30 or more members of the minority in southern Albania, the Attorney General, Mr. Alush Dragoshi, made the following statement to Albanian TV: As was made known to the public some time ago through the Albanian mass media, the Tirana District Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal case against six members of the minority in the districts of Delvinë, Sarandë, and Gjirokastër for ordinary and political crimes, such as illegal possession of weapons and anti-constitutional activity. Although the danger posed by these criminal offenses is very serious, they have been placed under arrest. The investigators assigned to investigate these cases are conducting inquiries into the criminal cases and questioning witnesses. It is precisely these investigators who have summoned witnesses for necessary clarifications. But the fact that these witnesses were summoned to provide any necessary clarifications about them does not mean that charges have been brought against the arrested persons. The reports by the Greek mass media and the Greek government that arrests have been made in the south are not at all true. Therefore, I declare once again publicly that this report is untrue.” 26.5.1994