Chief Inspector of SHKSH, TARE OSMANI

Yesterday in the People’s Assembly NDREKE GJINI The approval of the Draft Code of Criminal Procedure, whose consideration began yesterday at the afternoon plenary session of the People’s Assembly, is, among other things, another highly important legal and political act that demonstrates the Albanian state’s consistency and commitment to integration into European affairs. This is because we are all now familiar with the fact that the approval of this code, which follows the approval of the Civil Code and the Criminal Code, is the second and final condition for Albania to be accepted into the Council of Europe. The establishment of democratic institutions, the pace of reform, and the creation of a modern legal framework for the functioning of the rule-of-law state are highly significant aspects that express the essence of the European orientation and the will and commitment to consolidating democracy. These are major achievements of the transition, which cannot be diminished at all by the ominous clouds spread by the communist leadership through “ZP” and its offspring, or by the oral propaganda of the Sigurimi agents, whose sole aim is to blacken everything. The approval of this code creates genuine legal opportunities for a final break[?] with the procedural legal mechanisms of the macabre codes of the harsh Hoxhaist dictatorship that our country endured for more than four decades. This code contains highly important aspects for deepening legislative reform in the field of justice, because it equips the rule-of-law state in Albania with a modern law that ensures fair, equal and proper legal proceedings, far from any kind of political or racial oppression and discrimination. Through this code, the direct and binding application to all of the protection of personal freedoms and citizens’ legitimate interests is achieved. The draft Criminal Procedure Code is based on the fundamental principles and norms of criminal proceedings recognized and accepted by international conventions. Thus, approval of this code is the legal bridge that finally connects Albania with the great European family; it is a bridge toward progress, toward deepening and consolidating democracy. And we are convinced that our parliamentarians will be committed to building this bridge as soon and as well as possible, the bridge that leads us toward Europe. It openly paves the way for justice, because it believes in justice. At the afternoon session, the first discussion concerned the method of voting: whether it should be open or secret, and whether the two MPs should be voted on together or separately. After this issue was put to a vote, it was decided that the vote would be secret and would cover both MPs together. Once the voting procedure was completed, it turned out that, by a majority of votes, Parliament rejected the Prosecutor General’s request to lift the immunity of MPs Genci Ruli and Rexhep Uka. The voting result was: 63 MPs against lifting immunity, 44 in favor of lifting immunity, and 4 MPs abstained. The afternoon session then continued with discussion of the principles of the Draft Code of Criminal Procedure.

Report on behalf of the Legal Affairs Committee of the People’s Assembly HALIT SHAMATA In a series of extended and open sessions, the Legal Affairs Committee has examined and debated the Code of Criminal Procedure, working intensively and with constant concern, prompted by its necessity and, even more so, following the approval of the new Criminal Code, as well as by the shortcomings of the existing procedural law, despite the amendments it has undergone in recent years. Taking into account the level represented by this draft, comparing it with analogous European and other legislation, as well as with the suggestions and observations of the Council of Europe, we believe that: The Draft Code of Criminal Procedure meets the requirements of a modern code that takes account of the tradition and actual conditions of development of Albanian society and justice today, broadly respects the norms and standards of specific and international procedural legislation, and the generally accepted norms, such as the independence of judges, the provision of a defense, the presumption of innocence, the restoration of rights, the precedence of conventions, etc. The draft introduces important changes at every stage of criminal proceedings, both in their conception and in the practical application of those changes. It clearly defines the court as the principal subject of the proceedings and as the body that carries out the changes of the Court of Appeal, which does not send cases back but adjudicates them; the elimination of the return of cases to the prosecutor; recognition of the right to bring a private prosecution without a power of attorney; and the expansion of the subjects involved in proceedings to include bodies such as the judicial police. These are some of the draft’s merits, which respect human freedoms and rights. As the experts of the Council of Europe have stated, “the code meets the requirements of European standards.” It respects the necessary norms for a state governed by the rule of law and guarantees the independence of justice. Once again, during its consideration of the draft, the Legal Affairs Committee confirmed its ability to reach consensus on almost all the issues discussed. The Committee judged that the Draft Code of Criminal Procedure has the necessary constitutional basis for approval, and that the principal constitutional provisions on freedoms, along with the principal constitutional provisions closely related to them, are enshrined in the current constitutional provisions and fully comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. The draft preserves the constitutional institutions of the justice system, and the debate in the Committee about the possibility of changing any of them in the new constitution was easily freed from the complex of taboos. To ensure the draft’s fullest possible alignment with constitutional laws, we believe that the cases of limitation in Article 428 should be removed The legal bridge that irrevocably links Albania with the great European family is the bridge toward progress, toward the deepening and consolidation of committed to building this bridge, as soon as possible and as well as possible, to take us toward Europe. The draft introduces important changes to all stages of criminal proceedings, both in conception and in their practical application. the proceedings and the body responsible for administering justice. By providing for a mixed system, the draft draws chiefly on the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure of 1988, which represents the most advanced version of the European inquisitorial system, combined with elements of the Anglo-Saxon accusatorial system. It is worth recalling the criminal procedure system of the dictatorship, of Albanian communism, which, being a suppression of freedoms and rights in the broader sense, was a true inquisition in terms of procedure: the prosecutor was powerful and effectively the only party in the trial, facing a defenseless individual whose guilt had been presumed and predetermined. By placing the court in the foreground and the prosecutor in the position of an independent party, the code ensures the independence of justice. Also, consolidating security measures and evidence in court and in the court’s decision; applying special forms of trial, such as direct and summary trials; conceiving the investigation first and foremost as an inquiry in the courtroom; regulating the timing of pre-trial detention and trial periods; ensuring a genuine appeal; guaranteeing the right to defense; presuming innocence; restoring rights; and establishing responsibility for crimes, while distinguishing them according to pre-trial detention and investigation for these crimes—given the important changes made to Article 267, the committee accepted the suggestion that the review of final judgments be possible not only in cases of conviction but also of acquittal, and that judgments handed down unjustly for crimes may be reviewed when fewer than five years have passed since the decision was issued. These were some of the committee’s positions concerning the merits of the draft code and the points of debate. The committee has also made a series of changes and improvements to specific provisions, which are set out in the material distributed on behalf of the Laws Committee. In expressing not merely the opinion of the committee I represent, but also my view that the new draft Code of Criminal Procedure is one of the most important and necessary laws for reforming and democratizing justice, and acknowledging that procedure is, in general, the lifeblood of a democratic system, I am convinced that, among other things, this code represents a real opportunity for Albania’s European integration. I invite the specialists and all the others who made it possible to draft the code, and I call on everyone to approve the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Albania will be represented by a delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfred Serreqi The in Europe will take place in Paris on 20–21 March. It is being held in implementation of the decision taken at the inaugural conference for the Pact of Stability, held in the French capital on 26–27 May 1994. As at last year’s conference, all OSCE member states have been invited to participate. Albania, which took part in the inaugural conference, of Foreign Affairs, Alfred Serreqi. The conference is expected to adopt a draft declaration reflecting the spirit of the 1994 Paris document on the Pact of Stability.

After four days of intensive training, carried out through briefings and practical exercises involving training elements, yesterday at around 11:30 a.m. a ceremony was held to launch the humanitarian operation to assist victims of a traffic accident. On this occasion, the following had come to the Albanian-American training center: Minister of Defense Safet Zhulali, Chief of the General Staff of the Army, General Shemo Kosova, General Sheme Kosova, Minister of Health Maksim Cikuli, Chairman of the Tirana Municipality Sali Kelmendi, Chairman of the Tirana District Council Kudret Shalsi, military attachés accredited to our country, veterans, and many senior military officers from the Ministry of Defense and army units. The exercise was opened with a brief presentation by the commander of the American forces, Colonel Fridman. What was immediately noticeable was the high level of readiness of the American forces and communications troops. More than 40 soldiers of the forces [text unclear] stage a traffic accident. Upon receiving the signal, the first group of vehicles and military medics arrived at the scene in less than three minutes. The group’s mission, in addition to providing initial aid to the injured, was to distinguish and classify the severity of the injuries and the extent of harm to the Albanian and American soldiers involved in the accident. This team of doctors classified the soldiers wounded and suffering various traumas into three groups: soldiers seriously wounded and whose lives were at risk, moderately injured soldiers, and lightly injured soldiers. A specialized team dealt with those who were seriously injured, providing them with emergency medicines and drugs and then preparing them for transport by helicopter to the Army Central Hospital. A second team dealt with the moderately injured; after treating them and bandaging the various injured parts of their bodies, they transported them by ambulance to the servicemen’s health center. There, after the injured had received treatment, they were classified into groups again, and those who had recovered were sent to the rear area. Another team of doctors and military medics dealt with the lightly injured. (Continued on page 2)

Immunity of MPs Ruli and Uka is not lifted The People’s Assembly began yesterday morning’s proceedings by examining the request of the Prosecutor General to lift the immunity of MPs Genc Ruli and Rexhep Uka. After the report on the matter was presented on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee on Mandates, Immunity and Rules of Procedure by the committee’s chair, Fehmi Abdiu, MPs discussed the issue for more than three hours. They also heard explanations from Ruli and Uka themselves regarding the matter under discussion. Speaking on behalf of the DP parliamentary group, its deputy chair, MP P. Minga, said that everyone should vote according to their own will and convictions about the issue being discussed. The DP stressed that it is an open party that has fought and is fighting to clear the afternoon session, the first matter discussed was the method of voting—whether it should be open or conducted individually. After this matter secret ballot would be held for both MPs together. After the voting procedure was completed, it emerged that, by a majority vote, of MPs Genci Ruli and Rexhep Uka. The result of the vote of Criminal Procedure.

Has Meta understood and accepted his role in the PS, or is he pretending not to understand? Can Meta guarantee there will be no turning back when he does not know who is at his side?! The PS deputy chair demands the punishment of former State Security collaborators, while the former head of State Security is the PS’s Secretary General “A fierce conflict will break out in the PS if there is a retreat...” This is how the 25-year-old deputy chair of the PS, Ilir Meta, replies in an interview with the newspaper “Dita Informacion,” amplifying a statement made by Pandeli Majko some time ago. It is not known whether Meta has understood and accepted his role in the PS by being made deputy chair, or whether he is pretending not to understand it. It is perfectly clear that 26-year-old Meta is playing only the role of a pawn for those around him. Meta is sent to meetings with foreigners, who see in Meta’s age an indication of the PS’s renewal. The real leaders of the PS have understood that it would be ridiculous to have someone with N. Dokle’s appearance, for example, talk to foreigners about renewing the PS, But “pawn” Meta is not useful only for foreigners; he must also, however difficult it may be, create this image of the PS among Albanian voters before the elections. Thus the PS deputy chair declares that there will be no turning back because it is the young people who will not allow it. Unfortunately, any ordinary observer would understand that 25-year-old Meta is a sham deputy chair of the PS, with no influence at all, merely a pawn for the old wolves. What conflict will Meta start with Ruci, Pellumbi, Dokle and the others around them? Didn’t everyone who dared to speak in favor of the Constitution get driven out of the PS? And most of them were young people, while Meta did nothing but carry out the orders of those who are in fact the leaders of the PS, attacking and expelling them (Continued on page 2)

The PS was not invited to the congress of the Party of European Socialists —PS propaganda publishes another deception According to well-informed sources, a claim also confirmed within the PS, this party received no invitation to the congress of the Party of European Socialists (the socialist parties of the EU), and PS propaganda is misleading people when it presents Ilir Meta’s attendance at that congress as participation on behalf of the PS. Ilir Meta, according to the source, did not attend the congress as deputy chair and representative of the PS, but as deputy chair and representative of FRESSH, which is a member of the Socialist International. PS propaganda, abusing the fact that I. Meta holds the post of deputy chair in both the PS and FRESSH, publishes the news as though the PS deputy chair had attended that congress, rather than the FRESSH deputy chair, at a time when it is known that the PS has not yet even managed to discuss joining the Socialist International. “What goes well is not to the government’s credit; what goes badly is the government’s fault” Dokle and Parma repeated this several times yesterday on a television program organized around the results of the Eurobarometer. Whenever Dokle commented on the opinions of those people whose views on the way the country is governed and on reform were relevant, and who were satisfied with the country’s governance, he would put a negative spin on the matter and then reach the conclusion that people were dissatisfied with the government. Thus, according to Dokle, what goes well in Albania is not to the government’s credit, while what goes badly is always the government’s fault. Hajdaraga reveals that the PS has prepared lists of people to imprison Angered by MP Azem Hajdari for telling the truth in Parliament (that the PS group has long been defending a thief like Nano), the PS deputy chair, Hajdaraga, joined the uproar of the PS MPs and, after provoking them, addressed MP Hajdari with the words, “Don’t mention him now that he is not among us,” before launching an attack. “When we come to power, you will be the first one we deal with.” In a nutshell, this means that the PS leaders are prepared, if they come to power, to start political imprisonments—and it seems A. Hajdari is not the only one; there are many others. Everyone should bear this in mind.

Idriz Basha lives the tragedy of his “politics”