The martyrs of a school

“An Albanian gives Maradona the chance to watch the Ajax–Milan match—!” By Ahmet Shqarri — An Albanian gives Maradona the chance to watch the Ajax–Milan match—! —Marko Van Basten and Dejan Savicevic in the press tribune, beside two Albanian journalists... and more “Teuta” of Durres triumphs in Tirana

DUKAGJIN HATA Today the New Penal Code enters into force, marking a landmark event in the history of the rule of law and Albanian democracy. Thus, pursuant to Law No. 7895 dated 27.01.1995, criminal law has broken free of its own manly, everlasting self from a dark time, and justice is being given dimension. The New Penal Code definitively undoes the injustices enshrined in law during 47 years of communist fanaticism and removes the politicians’ monopoly over rights and the law. This major legal act serves as a weapon in the fight against crime; it serves to strengthen the rule of law and protect human rights and freedoms from those who violate them. The new Penal Code is another sign of the human freedoms that post-dictatorial Albanian society and its democratic institutions are conveying to democracy and world civilization; it is another condition fulfilled that guarantees Albania’s acceptance into the Council of Europe. It is the result of democratic processes in criminal legislation that began after 22 March 1992, an obligation and fulfillment by the democratic state in relation to law and justice, which, over nearly five decades under the red executioners, had been suppressed and trampled by the communist political regime and its irresponsible pseudo-jurists. Completed with new criminal-law institutions and provisions, stripped of the politicization and ideologization of the past, founded on democratic principles, built on scientific criteria, and shaped according to the method of serving sentences and the principles of humanism, the New Penal Code conveys the social, political and legal burdens of an era now forever separated from lawlessness, an era that calls for justice and humanism. The drafting of this masterpiece of criminal law was carried out using as models the New Penal Codes of Western countries with the most developed legal systems, such as France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the USA; some of the best-known jurists in these countries have expressed their appreciation for it. Divided into two main parts—the general part, which includes the fundamental provisions setting out the principles and institutions of criminal law, and the special part, which contains criminal offences and sets the measure of punishment—this code enshrines the constitutional principle of legality in the criminal sphere. “No one may be sentenced to a type or measure of punishment not provided for by law.” This is the alpha of justice, which the communist state systematically violated through the perpetration of unprecedented genocide, from staged political trials to executions without trial and in the midst of a class that time proved was not the locomotive of history, but the machinery of monstrous crime. By laying bare these great creeds of individual freedom, the New Penal Code raises a temple to justice and calls for respect for human freedoms and rights in the course of progress. This code is a space for the rule of law to govern the free individual along the path of respecting laws, which is a fundamental condition and guarantees the achievement of our democratic society.

—In 1990: 12,400 apartments; in 1994 alone: 26,500 of them —In 1990: 2.3 million dollars for water-supply systems; in 1994 alone: around 50–60 million dollars for water-supply systems Press conference by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction and Tourism Dashamir Shehi The greater part of the investment fund over these three years of the Democratic Government has been used for constructing water-supply systems and roads, and for building residential apartments for citizens, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction and Tourism Dashamir Shehi said at the beginning of yesterday’s press conference. To illustrate the enormous scale of these investments, Shehi emphasized that during 1994 alone work was carried out on around 98 major projects, of which 71 km of roads were handed over, 25 km of new roads were repaired and asphalted, and work is continuing on a further 40.3 km. A total of 88 water-supply systems in towns and 19 in villages have also been completed. With investments from the World Bank, the EC, the state and several other donors, 5,400 apartments were also completed for homeless citizens. “Let us not even include the private construction projects, which are progressing at a rapid pace,” he told the journalists. (Continued on page 2) Dashamir Shehi at a press conference.

—Nano and Ruçi, R. Alia’s kamikazes for the final destruction EDI PALOAKA The dark years 1990–1991 were years that Albanians experienced under some of the most terrifying physical and psychological terror and violence. The screams of the beasts who sensed their imminent end demanded blood (“We took it with blood; we will not give it up without blood”). During that period R. Alia brought forward certain people who, for one reason or another, were ready to commit any act that would keep the regime standing. The two principal figures carefully chosen for this mission were Fatos Nano and Gramoz Ruçi. Both were frenzied careerists, determined to keep the dictatorship standing. R. Alia took Nano from the infamous M-L Institute and initially put him in the post of deputy prime minister, then placed him in the prime minister’s chair. The most suitable person for the post of Minister of the Interior was the party secretary of Tepelena, a furious and born criminal: Gramoz Ruçi. It is now known that former Interior Minister Hekuran Isai was removed from his post, perhaps because he had failed to carry out an order from R. Alia to shoot at a resistance gathering in February ’91, when the dictator’s monument was toppled. So it is clear that those who would take the posts of prime minister and interior minister could have no qualms in similar situations. They had to choose the path of dictatorship, keeping the regime standing even through bloodshed. That is why the provincial Ruçi was brought from Tepelena and Nano from the M-L Institute. (Continued on page 3)

Notice from the spokesperson of the State Control Service In its 31.5.1995 article, “ZP,” under the pompous headline “2 million dollars buried under the protection... Blerim Çele’s silence,” continues its series of defamatory attacks using information now obtained from the unpunished former inspector Tare Osmani. The audit was conducted on the basis of information that two employees of the Durrës Collection Enterprise had sent to the Democratic Party about various irregularities and their dismissal from work. The Democratic Party referred this information to the State Control Service for verification. The verification was carried out by former inspector Tare, who proposed the measures published in the “ZP” article. This was because the first director, who was responsible for failing to collect debts on time, had been dismissed, while for the newly appointed director the measure “Reprimand with warning” was requested for failing to devote himself fully to the work. For the head of the department, dismissal from duty was requested. By letter No. 590, dated 15.4.1994, addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Durrës District Council and the Commercial Collection Enterprise, among other things I ordered measures to collect the debts and the reinstatement of the two employees who had been dismissed. We gave the same reply to the Democratic Party, which is interested in the outcome of this notice. Our working practice is that when we are asked to carry out verifications or various inspections, the source that provided the information is notified. What is wrong with that? We have also sent such information to “ZP,” on 15.2.1994, concerning one of its false reports; to the State Control Service in Durrës, the P.S.D. and letter No. 1027/1 dated 19.5.1994 concerning the illegal actions of the head of the P.S.D. in Bulqize; and to the newspaper “KJ” concerning unfounded information about the purchase of several IVECO vehicles by a state institution, etc. We have [also informed] the Democratic Party (Continued on page 2)

The United States Embassy would like to draw attention to an inaccuracy in an article in the 31 May issue of the newspaper “Koha Jone,” page 3, concerning the level of assistance given to Albania. The article says that American aid to Albania “has not exceeded several million dollars a year during the Berisha administration.” This figure greatly understates the level of assistance provided to Albania during and after 1992. Since 1992, official American assistance to Albania has amounted to more than 130 million dollars, including food aid. The amount of assistance for 1994 was more than 30 million dollars, excluding military aid. The American Embassy is particularly concerned by this latest article, which misrepresented the level of American assistance, because the figures given above were provided to the newspaper “Koha e Jone” in a letter dated 6 March 1995 concerning the level of American assistance to Albania. The United States of America has stood, and will continue to stand, alongside and support policies of democratization and transition to a market economy. USIA

Yesterday the Albanian parliamentary delegation departed for the Russian Federation to take part in the 5th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, which will be held in Moscow. The proceedings of this session will be chaired by the current President of the Assembly, Mr Pjetër Arbnori. Mr Arbnori will also take part in the seminar to be held in Petersburg in honor of the distinguished Albanologist Desnickaja.

“On the ‘Alia–Nano–Dokle–Ruçi–Benc’ scandal” The director of the PS company “Progresi” speaks out... The tractors were bought with the printing house’s money Although documentary evidence, invoices, financial records and oral testimony from various witnesses have now clearly demonstrated that the trading activities of the company “Progresi” were carried out using the 250 thousand dollars remaining from the 400 thousand dollars belonging to the “ZP” printing house, Dokle, Pellumbi and the others are trying, through absurd and contradictory statements, actions prompted by others and politically motivated misrepresentations, to obscure what cannot be hidden or justified with empty words. At every step, the investigations by the justice authorities into this scandal are uncovering other crimes. This is also the response being given by PS business executives such as L. Shahollari, the director of this company, who, in response to questions from “Gazeta Shqiptare,” gets tangled up in his own words and inadvertently admits that the tractors were bought with money from the “ZP” printing-house fund. Shahollari also says that the tractors shown on TV are not from our company. Well then, whose are they? That is where the charade begins to falter. (Continued on page 3)

The law on the status of veterans of the war against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers of the Albanian people: — Official and legal recognition of these people’s merits — Deserved recognition and special legal protection — 600 million lekë from the state budget, in addition to other benefits — All those who fought for freedom benefit (7 April ’39–9 May ’45) Interview with Mr Alfred Moisiu, Deputy Minister of Defence —What does granting this new status mean for veterans of the war against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers? As President Berisha has also expressed, veterans are the most honored part of this nation, of this people. A new confirmation of this honor is the granting of status by the Government and Parliament to war veterans, a right that was denied to them for around half a century by Enver Hoxha’s communist government. The new law issued by today’s Parliament is not a partial law, but provides for a genuine, complete recognition of those who sacrificed themselves for the great cause of the Homeland and freedom. —How is a war veteran defined in some of the articles of this statute? —The law on the status of veterans of the war against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers of the Albanian people recognizes veterans as a category of these people. As stated in Article 1 of this law, this status defines the rights, the criteria for recognizing a person as a veteran of this war, and the rights acquired through this status. Article 7 of the law further states: “The veteran of the war against the Nazi-Fascist occupiers is a distinguished figure of the Albanian people and Homeland and enjoys special legal protection.” —What benefits are provided by this new law, already approved by the Albanian Parliament? —Under this law, veterans benefit not only financially, but will also enjoy a series of rights they did not have before. These include, for example, access to certain types of leave that are more necessary for people of this age, as also provided for in Council of Ministers Decision No. 189 dated 6.03.1995. Under the new law, veterans will be able to travel free on urban city routes and at half price on interurban routes, by presenting their veteran’s booklet. Furthermore, as stated in Article 11, local government bodies must give priority to resolving their problems, such as housing, etc. Veterans are also not required to pay any kind of direct tax. So, this is a comprehensive, modern law based on the best international experience of state assistance to this category