. Yesterday the Albanian Parliament approved in principle the Penal Code of the Republic of Albania. This is one of the most important acts carried out by the legislative body of the new democratic Albanian state. Following the approval of the Law on the Fundamental Freedoms and Rights of Man, approval of the Penal Code, which stands alongside the previously approved Civil Code, is one of the most important foundations of Albanian democracy. This new code is a far cry from the notorious penal code of the dictatorship, a code built on the “principles” of violating the fundamental human rights, on class struggle, a code founded on the violence of the dictatorship of the proletariat and all the negativities that stemmed from the line of the communist dictatorial regime. The many dark aspects of the old penal code had already been repealed by the post-communist Parliament; nevertheless, the new code finally brings about the necessary transformation of the entire Albanian legal system, becoming a guarantee for the protection of the rights of Albanian citizens. In this way, with this act Albania takes another important step towards joining the ranks of countries with developed democracies. With this act Albania takes another step towards Europe, but Europe, which welcomed this act, will also take a step towards drawing closer to Albania. The prompt approval of this Penal Code, article by article as well, would finally mark one of the most important successes of the new Albanian democracy. E. P.

Yesterday in the People’s Assembly NDREKE GJINI Approval in principle of the draft Penal Code of the Republic of Albania was the subject of yesterday’s plenary session in the People’s Assembly. According to the agenda, approval of a [first] had been scheduled; yesterday’s session began with a debate on the consideration and approval in principle of this draft code. After a lengthy and detailed report on the work carried out to draft this code, delivered by the Chair of the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Laws, deputy Halit Shamata, many other deputies also took the floor. Deputy E. Abdiu, after praising the commendable work of the working group that drafted this code, also expressed his objections regarding specific articles of the draft code, while deputy Perpali, in his remarks, stressed the need for clarifications in particular articles. He expressed agreement in principle. On behalf of the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Education, Science and Social Affairs, deputy Pjeter Pepa stated that drafting and approving this draft code constituted a step forward towards consolidating democracy in Albania. He stressed the need for careful revision of the articles concerning the moral sphere. The Chair of the Laws Committee, deputy B. Caka, in his remarks, spoke of the very serious work done by the drafters of this draft code and expressed his objections to particular articles, which, he said, could be amended during its article-by-article review. Deputy S. Gjinushi, speaking on behalf of the PSD parliamentary group, underlined that, overall, the drafters of this draft code had done very serious and extensive work, reflected in the fact that the draft drew on the best experience of Western countries. After expressing his support for the draft code in principle, Gjinushi stressed the need to adjust the scales of sentencing, which would be done during the article-by-article review. Deputy N. Dokle, who spoke on behalf of the PS parliamentary group, also expressed support for the draft code in principle, underlining the need for it to be approved by consensus. On behalf of the PD parliamentary group, its chair, deputy Ali Spahia, spoke. After supporting the draft code and describing it as an achievement of democracy in the field of legislation, he also made a series of concrete proposals for changes to particular articles. In the end, the draft code was put to a vote in principle and approved with no votes against; there were only three abstentions. In the afternoon, the People’s Assembly resumed its work in plenary session with consideration and approval of the Penal Code article by article. [Of] this draft code. The deputies approved 67 articles of the Penal Code as well. The debates and (Continued on page 2)

Statement by Mr Ali Spahia, chair of the PD parliamentary group For half a century of communist dictatorship, our country was a testing ground for some of the most inhumane laws. For half a century, very few people in Albania may have heard that there are countries in the world where fundamental human rights and freedoms are protected by law. From this point of view, the draft Penal Code reflects the radical upheaval that has taken place in our country in the field of legislation as well. This draft also reflects the humane character of our new legislation. The narrowing of the scope for applying capital punishment is another expression of this humanism. Although, in theory, this penalty still remains in the penal codes of some member states of the Council of Europe, it is applied either for very serious crimes that are unlikely to occur (e.g. high treason, ENG), or only in wartime, or is automatically commuted to life imprisonment (in Turkey), or is subject to a moratorium (as in Bulgaria). In some European countries this penalty has been abolished by constitutional provisions. Protocol No. 6 to the Convention [provides that] no one shall be subjected to this penalty or executed.” Personally, as a citizen and as a doctor, I oppose the application of the death penalty in any circumstances, considering this penalty one of the fundamental standards of a genuine Western European democracy. All the more so since it is now clear that this penalty does not reduce the number of serious crimes. But are aggravating circumstances. We therefore propose that this penalty remain an option only for Articles 74, 76, 77 and 78, adding the words “death penalty, if there are aggravating circumstances” after the words in Articles 74, 76 and 78. As for Articles 107, 139, 208, 209, 219, 221 and 333, the death penalty should be removed. For Articles 117, 118, 229, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244 and 267, the words “when committed with intent” should be added. We also propose that Article 11 simply be removed from the Penal Code. No one should be subject.” Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights of 28 April 1983, which entered into force on 1 March 1985 and has been ratified by 23 states (with another 3 states expected to ratify it), says in its first article: “The death penalty shall be abolished. No one shall be condemned to such penalty or executed.” In Articles 117, 118, 242, 243, 244 and 267, the words “when committed intentionally” should be added. I Penal Code without debate. Considering this Penal Code draft a great achievement in the building of Democracy in Albania, I invite the honorable members of Parliament to approve it in principle, with the amendments I mentioned above. Thank you.

. This process implements that part of the DP’s program concerning the transformation of Albanians into owners and social equality. The process of transforming state property into private property represents one of the greatest challenges for the Democratic Party and its Government. The DP is the initiator and implementer of this historic mission, whose most visible consequence will be increased economic efficiency and improved individual welfare. Ensuring the effective use of property has been the purpose of carrying out this process, while the criteria for achieving it have been established: rapid privatization, social justice in privatization, and the transparency that must characterize this process. To implement that part of the DP program concerning social justice in privatization, and to engage everyone in the market economy, each person will be given a share of national wealth, converted into securities. And the number of individuals over 18 who will receive securities is not small. But the concept of social equality is not the same as the concept of egalitarianism. Thus, the distribution of securities will necessarily take account of the contributions of different age groups. This is precisely what the principle provides for: the distribution of securities will also depend on the extent of the material discrimination suffered by each age group in past years. The distribution process will also implement that specific part of the DP program concerned with the moral and material rehabilitation of former political persecutées and former owners. The advantages to be applied in this process for the categories of homeless people and landless peasants are, in themselves, compensation for individuals and for previous privatization processes. Viewed as a whole, the distribution of securities, as an important aspect of privatization, appears to be a process which, despite advantages for certain groups, achieves what everyone wants: social equality. What is important in the current period is the rapid distribution of these securities—which is also the Government’s priority—so that each recipient can begin competing in the market economy on the basis of their abilities, and each can advance or be left behind. This will also revitalize the economy, now conceived as a community of private entities. SHPETIM LUKU

The Law Commission, in several working sessions during November and December 1994 and January 1995, examined the draft of the New Penal Code of the Republic of Albania. To conduct as effective a discussion as possible, with the aim of adopting a contemporary penal code that would best address the fight against criminal phenomena and their prevention, in addition to explanations provided by specialists from the Ministry of Justice, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Cassation, the Commission made use of the views of judges, jurists and other intellectuals submitted to it, as well as comments and recommendations from various associations and organizations, beginning with those sent by the Albanian Helsinki Committee, various ministries, RTSH, and other bodies at home and abroad. It was also considered that the most extensive contributions included the comments and suggestions of the other committees of the People’s Assembly, which were discussed one by one in the Law Commission; we can say that many of them were reflected in improvements to the draft. It must be emphasized that the members of the Law Commission were unanimous in their view that Albania needs to adopt a new Penal Code as soon as possible. The political and social transformations that have taken place in our country, as well as the prospect of democratic and integrative developments (Albania’s integration into international organizations), make the adoption of this code essential. It fully reflects important documents such as the Universal Declaration of the United Nations, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the conventions and recommendations of the Council of Europe, and the constitutional law “On Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms,” adopted on 31 March 1993. On the other hand, despite the amendments made from time to time, the Penal Code currently in force does not (Continued on page 2)

According to information received from the Directorate of Prison Administration, we learn that yesterday at 6:00 in the morning the fourth escapee from Tirana prison was captured. He is Tomor Haxhiu, sentenced to 18 years for a revenge killing. He was captured in Tirana, in the Riverside neighborhood. All district police stations have stepped up their efforts to locate and capture the escapees from Tirana prison; four escapees have been captured so far. It is also reported that Interpol has been notified about five of these escapees, considered highly dangerous criminals because of murder. We also learn from the information that the number of escapees from the police service personnel has risen to 12, one of whom is from rep. 88. M. SH.

In its yesterday’s issue, the newspaper “Populli Po” writes that, according to sources within the PDKSH who did not wish to be identified, MP R. M. of the PDSH was a member of the new leadership of the PDKSH. In light also of this report broadcast yesterday on TVSH, we asked Democratic MP Mr. Rudolf Marku for his comment. He told “RD”: “I took part in an intellectual forum, not a party forum. I was invited as a lecturer, not as an MP, and from this perspective I participated together with colleagues from the Faculty of Philological Sciences. The comments being made do not correspond to the truth.” This is the second consecutive instance in which the newspaper “Populli Po” has provided inaccurate information. It seems that the appetite for sensation is more important than the desire to verify the truth of the news, whatever its source. BLEDI KASMI

Yesterday morning, at the PDSH headquarters in Tirana, the expanded national activists’ assembly of the FRPDSH held its proceedings under the direction of its chairman, Afrim Krasniqi. The agenda included the following issues: the activity of the expanded national FRPDSH activists’ assembly. The agenda included: an analysis of the Youth Forum’s work over the past year, the holding of extraordinary conferences in branches, new relations with DP structures in the branches and at the center, and other issues. Mr. Krasniqi briefed the activists on the decisions of the latest meeting of the FRPD leadership. The speakers then presented their views on the issues raised. Their discussions were characterized by a profound spirit of self-criticism and criticism. Alongside taking responsibility for strengthening youth structures, increasing membership, etc., they asked the Democratic Party to increase the role of young people in all its structures, broaden their participation, and improve coordination and cooperation among the relevant structures. Once again, the speakers strongly supported the democratic processes in Albania, the deepening of privatization reform, the distribution of securities, the return of land to former owners and their compensation, etc. The assembly authorized the leadership to synthesize the issues discussed at the meeting and have them conveyed to this high-level forum through the FRPD representatives on the PDSH National Council. “RD” correspondent

Having failed in all your immoral attempts to conceal the crime of which you are accused, at last, in order to evade your true character, you decided to publish in the pamphlet “24 ore” a letter addressed to Presidency officials or senior state figures, in which you denounce your colleagues. Through this correspondence you think you are defending the independence of justice and denouncing the abuse to which you claim to have been subjected, without realizing that, from the very beginning of the “Kallafatos” case until today, you have been seriously incriminating yourself. First, your correspondence shows that you know neither the laws nor even the most elementary legal rules, because if an official of the Presidency or another institution of the People’s Assembly is responsible for citizens’ complaints and they officially look into them, only a sick mind like yours could regard that as interference. The truth is, Mr. Zef, complaints about you are widespread, and we have received many of them in the newspapers. Second, the fact is that the officials of the service through which these institutions handle citizens’ complaints contacted you officially. Your efforts, Mr. Brozi, have become ridiculous and are typical of a wretch with the psychology and mentality of the dictatorship, who has thought and still thinks he is above the law, that the law cannot act against him but only against others. You have not yet learned even the laws of democracy. After you were accused of a serious crime, your intervention resembles that of a man dazed by narcotics. You tried to turn the “Kallafatos” case into a conflict between Albania and Greece over justice, failing at first to understand that you were defending and insulting Greece even more, because Greece is a state governed by the rule of law: it convicts drug traffickers and those who circulate narcodollars, just like Albania and other countries governed by the rule of law. After this failed, your second argument was the defense of human rights, and you went so far as to cite the writings of one of the journalists from your own circle, one of the most criminal people Albania has known, Aranit Çela, as arguments in your own defense. Now, finally, you publish a letter accusing your deputy of having taken part in explaining the Constitution, when Albanians have seen you on party presidiums and television programs as the leading advocate of the Referendum and the Constitution. Your position is extremely pitiful. You try at all costs to escape the law and accuse the state, the Government, the courts, Parliament and the President left and right, as if they had delivered you into the clutches of the narcodollars. Mr. Brozi, unfortunately you are the second victim of such a trap, after Mr. Plaku, whom the Hanxhaku cars brought to ruin; now it seems that Kallafatos’s narcodollars have prepared the same fate for you. In Ramiz Alia’s pamphlet you also publish a letter you say you addressed to the President, in which, among other things, you announce your resignation. It is a resignation that has come too late; you are far too late, Mr. Brozi, because such abuse has already been condemned. 1- When you came to blows with your colleagues, members of the Court of Cassation, attacking and reducing them to this state in the most “civilized” and aggressive manner. 2- When, contrary to the constitutional provisions—which do not allow you to place yourself above them, Mr. Zaka—you proposed him for training abroad. 3- When you allowed yourself to hear cases without case files. Your request to resign, when you have been accused of committing serious crimes, is sheer hypocrisy. Neither resignation, nor the deals you are trying to make at the expense of justice by seeking this person’s vote or that person’s, nor the defense the “24 oreshi” and those behind it may offer, will be able to prevent the law and the rule-of-law state from functioning in every case. You feel guilty, and that is why you fear the law. Judge Saraci invited you to appear before justice together; his conscience is clear, he trusts the law, and he is not terrorized by narcodollars or crime. That is why he does not act as you do, mobilizing political pressure, forgeries, deceit and sensationalism in an attempt to escape the accusations leveled against you. Today all that remains for you is Kallafatos, those who set up the trap and conspired with you, “24 oreshi,” “K.J”; while justice, Albanian democracy and the rule of law have become the nightmare of those whose consciences are not clean. A guilty conscience terrifies you and has plunged you into sick hallucinations. You accuse others of financial irregularities, while you yourself, together with your nephew, have been officially accused of serious corruption. You accuse others of damaging relations with Greece, hoping that you will damage your country’s relations with other states through the drug traffickers and narcodollars. For months, Mr. Brozi, Albania has been striving to build democratic security and a state governed by the rule of law. MENTOR SHULLI

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