Today at 10:30, at the Palace of Congresses, a press conference will be held by Mr. Shtolcemberg, Chairman of the Committee for Negotiation of the Private External Debt (41 creditor banks), and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Dylber Vrioni, on the signing of the final Agreement for the Settlement of Albania’s External Debt. Press and Information Spokesperson at the Ministry of Finance

The Albanian Helsinki Committee would do well to learn its rights

The association has been usurped for personal careerist purposes

Nano’s failure — Brozi’s failure

Yesterday at the Plenum of the Court of Cassation Dragoshi: Brozi should be excluded from the trial of the “Nano” case. Brozi has made decisions without familiarizing himself with the files. Yesterday, the atmosphere at the Plenum of the Court of Cassation, convened to try the case of Fatos Nano, was…

PRELIMINARY MOTION BEFORE THE PLENUM OF THE COURT OF CASSATION Regarding the trial of the criminal case against the defendant Fatos Nano and associates, neither the case rapporteur nor the other members of the Court of Cassation may have examined the materials in this criminal case. Furthermore, although we requested that it be made available for examination, it has not been provided to us. The filing by the President of the Court of Cassation of a request for the protection of legality against the decisions of the District Court, the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, without first examining the court file from the Court of Appeal, and the presentation of the case by the rapporteur without first familiarizing himself with that file—or, nonetheless, the Plenum’s hearing of the case tonight without having that file—shows that it was not examined or studied by the President of the Court of Cassation, who requested that the decision of the Court of Appeal against the defendant Fatos Nano and associates be quashed. Nor was it examined by the case rapporteur or the other members of the Court of Cassation who may have studied been provided to us.

The President of the Tirana District Court learned through television, according to an announcement by the Court of Cassation spokesperson Ndue Lazri, that the “NANO” file had arrived at the Court of Cassation. Following this announcement, the President of the Tirana District Court was informed that Zef Brozi had sent his inspectors, Agim Hoxha and Guxim Zeneli, who had gone directly to the archive of the Tirana District Court and removed the “NANO” file. We do not know how many files he removed or what he left behind in the archive in connection with this case. They acted without the knowledge of the President or Vice-President of the Tirana District Court. Only they know their reasons and motives. Mr. Zef Brozi filed a request for the protection of legality against three court decisions. What he read or left unread in this file is not something the President of the Tirana District Court can know[…] Whether he forgot some part of the file or deliberately left it behind, the President of the Tirana District Court has no reason to answer for it, as Mr. Brozi may do. On no occasion and in no case has the Tirana Court obstructed the Court of Appeal or the Court of Cassation. Mr. Brozi is deliberately trying to muddy the truth. The reason the case was not heard by the Court of Cassation is not that the President of the Tirana Court failed to send the files, as Mr. Brozi tried to misinform the public. Rather, the reasons concern Mr. Brozi himself: his failure to study the case, his lack of familiarity with it, and the short time—10 days—that he gave the members of the Court of Cassation to study such a voluminous file, comprising 19 volumes in all. SPOKESPERSON OF THE TIRANA DISTRICT COURT

President of the Republic Sali Berisha received the President of Club Medshetar, one of the world’s largest tourism companies, Mr. Serzh Trigano. President Berisha said that tourism represents one of Albania’s important areas of potential. With its natural beauty and cultural wealth, as well as favorable legislation, the country offers opportunities to those wishing to invest in this field. President Berisha expressed to Mr. Trigano his regret over the delay concerning the manager of this club. Masle, in the summer of 1982, in our territorial waters, and condemned it as a criminal act by the former regime. Mr. Trigano was of the opinion that, with its variety of natural wealth, Albania would soon feature as an attractive destination on the tourist map, and he hoped that Club Medshetar could begin its activities in Albania. Press and Information Office of the Presidency

Today, the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, received the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Tran Xuan Anh, who presented his credentials. Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi also attended the credentials ceremony. ATSH

“RD” put the following two questions to MPs Ali Spahia, deputy chairman of the PD and chairman of its parliamentary group, as well as Mr. Tonin Alimehilli and Fadil Çepele: 1. Question: Does the law on the sale and purchase of land complete the package of laws on land ownership? What is your opinion on…

Yesterday, the persuasive and reasoned address by State Prosecutor Dragoshi dominated the case of Fatos Nano. To prevent any possible violation of the law and any subjective trial swayed by political preferences, Prosecutor Dragoshi requested that be excluded from hearing this case, since his prior public statement constitutes a circumstance giving rise to doubts about his impartiality in the trial. Secondly, a court file was missing from the materials in this case—specifically, the file relating to the second instance—which means it had not been examined by the President of the Court of Cassation, who had therefore requested the quashing of the Court of Appeal’s decision against defendant Fatos Nano and others without first reviewing that file. As is known, the President of the Court of Cassation is not interested in reviewing files in order to ensure a fair trial. The President of the Court of Cassation’s filing studying the Court of Appeal’s court file, as well as the rapporteur’s presentation of the case without first examining it, constitutes not only a violation and a lack of seriousness, but transforms a request for the protection of legality from an extraordinary legal remedy intended to correct court decisions into an ordinary means of challenging them. For these reasons, Prosecutor Dragoshi requested that this repeated trial be stopped and that President Brozi be excluded from hearing the case. Sashaku then took the floor and opposed the Prosecutor’s requests, repeating stale political expressions copied from Nano. According to Brozi and Sashaku, if you appropriate state property on a large scale, should you be acquitted outright?!!! (Continued on page 2) In the cropped image at the upper left, fragments of text are visible: “Nano case” and The article on the motion says that the prosecutor requested the exclusion of the President of the Court of Cassation, Zef Brozi, and mentions Fatos Nano, the President of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, and State Prosecutor Dragoshi. At the Prosecutor General’s Office, on 19 and 20 July 1993, a meeting was held with the investigators in the case and other specialists, at which the facts and evidence collected in the criminal case concerning the shortages and irregularities in the distribution of Italian aid in our country were analyzed. Although the proceedings at this meeting were lengthy and aimed at reaching sound conclusions on the investigative material, especially regarding the legal classification of the criminal acts and identifying those who should have been held criminally responsible, Mr. Zef Brozi was allowed to attend after being summoned by him, as a specialist in criminal law who could provide a qualified legal opinion. As appears from the minutes of this meeting, Mr. Zef took a position in favor of the guilt of Fatos Nano and associates and his prosecution. Mr. Zef also expressed himself on this matter in the People’s Assembly, when the Prosecutor’s Office’s request to lift Fatos Nano’s immunity was considered. Under Article 114 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, this request must be considered by the Plenum in the absence of the judge whose exclusion is sought. We emphasize this legal requirement because, in recent practice, this procedural provision has not been observed by the chambers of the Plenum of the Court of Cassation. II. In addition to the above, we also request that the hearing of this case be postponed to another date, for the following reasons: 1. As may have been observed even by those who have studied the materials in this case, a court file is missing—specifically, the court file for the second instance. This means that… Motion concerning the trial of the criminal case against defendant Fatos Nano and others expressed an opinion on Fatos Nano’s criminal responsibility during the investigative phase of this case. Therefore, pursuant to Article 111 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, we request his exclusion from hearing this case, since this constitutes a circumstance giving rise to serious doubts about his impartiality in examining the case. This means that… The text continues in the middle columns with the arguments supporting the preliminary motion and concerning the court file. The visible text includes: “of the Court of Cassation, having previously studied the court file of the Court of Cassation without having examined the court file of the Court of Cassation…” and continues that the Prosecutor’s motion relates to court decisions and allegations of irregularities. “Therefore, in order to give us the opportunity to study this file as well before hearing the case and, on that basis, reach accurate conclusions, it is necessary for the hearing to be postponed for this reason. It is also stated that the Italian judicial authorities have taken up the criminal case against the managers of the company ‘Levante Co’ and others, who were involved in distributing Italian aid to Albania. If this is true, this fact directly affects how this Plenum should decide the case. It is therefore essential to seek official confirmation of this fact and to examine the contents of the procedural documents of the Italian judicial authorities concerning the case in question. Without this, the Plenum will not be able to hear the case, express its position, and issue a well-founded decision regarding the charge and sentence of defendant Fatos Nano for the crime of appropriating state property on a large scale. I believe that the Plenum of the Court of Cassation, currently Albania’s highest forum for the administration of justice, must be extremely rigorous in applying without any concessions the procedural rules relevant to our preliminary motions, especially now that the new Code of Criminal Procedure will come into force in a few days, with even more comprehensive and explicit requirements concerning judicial impartiality, in line with European standards for the trial of cases. I stress that granting these requests by the Plenum would in no way harm the case submitted for review by the President of the Court of Cassation. On the contrary, it would serve the objectivity and proper resolution of the case, with professional competence on the part of the Plenum. In view of the foregoing, I request that the Plenum of the Court of Cassation postpone the hearing of this case. Mr. President, The right to be heard is a human right, but the reasons why I have regretted the defense I gave (the defense of Zef Brozi — Editor’s note) go beyond personal matters; consequently, I feel it necessary to make this public statement to you. You, Mr. Brozi, have not left any matter, however ordinary it may be, without… [text cut off at the bottom edge of the page]

The far right in unison with the far left Time, it is often said, is the best judge. It sheds light not only on events and issues debated at the time they occurred, but also on the personal role of those involved. Yesterday’s issue of the day, because of the mobilization of the entire propaganda, financial, and organizational arsenal of the far left, was the so-called Nano affair. They did not fail to summon from their hiding places yesterday’s mercenaries, with all their titles earned in the service of the dictatorship. The Nano-dollars astonished us all for a moment with their power. Some time ago, “RD” denounced the unlawful release, in flagrant violation of Albanian law, of the Greek national Kallafatos, who had been caught with [?] narcotics. It was Mrs. Kalakulla who undertook this “heroic” act. It was Brozi, her chairman, who did not wait for the decision to be published, but immediately carried it out, making it easy for Kallafatos to escape justice and leaving the narcotics dollars to others. At the time, RD denounced, without the slightest hesitation, the spectacular actions of Brozi and Kalakulla. The same was true in the case of Anxh[u]i Dje, before the Plenum of the Court of Cassation in the Nano affair. Brozi, the photogenic chief judge, Nano’s belated admirer, was seeking acquittal. The entire public was astonished by Brozi’s 360-degree U-turns. And Brozi was asking for help. And Brozi was ready to give anything for Nano to be free, in order to win the support of his colleagues on the Plenum. Brozi had once helped Mrs. Kalakulla. Or, better put, they had helped each other. Now it was her turn to help Brozi, to continue their cooperation. And yesterday Mrs. Kalakulla helped Brozi with his request for the case to be considered by the Plenum, and with his request for the release of the thief Nano, even though one file was missing. One more vote in favor of Brozi and Nano. The far right, too, in harmonious unison, perpet[u]ated envy alongside the far left. Time proved the accuracy of RD’s judgments. A.D. Next, the other visible article: Disappointment over Brozi’s vote From the statement by MP Marash Ib[r]aj Mr. Chairman, The right to repent — Editor’s note) go beyond personal considerations; consequently, I feel it necessary to make a any matter, however ordinary it may be, without… (Continued on page 2)

From the statement by MP Marash Ibraj Ibraj Mr. Chairman, The right to repent — necessary to make a page 2)

“RD” put the following two questions to MPs Ali Spahia, deputy chairman of the PD and leader of its parliamentary group, as well as Mr. Tonin Alimehilli and Fadil Çepele: of the Spahia, deputy chairman of the PD and leader use of land constitute a completion of opinion of the fairness brought about by the passage of this law? 2. Question: How do you comment on statements by the socialist leadership that the law on buying and selling land leads to the sale of Albania, etc.? ALI SPAHIA: 1. Yes. The PD program states clearly: “We will work urgently so that the reform already being implemented concerning the division of land may attain the dimensions and certainty of an agrarian reform, which will resolve the outstanding issues, including each of its political-legal, social, economic, territorial, demographic, etc. aspects. After the land was divided throughout the territory of the Republic of Albania and title deeds were issued, one of the main objectives of the PD program was fulfilled: to make all Albanians owners. But now there is an urgent need for a law on the sale and purchase of land, because it is clear that an owner must have the right to sell their property, mortgage it, leave it as an inheritance, or give it away. Likewise, they must also have the right to buy land from another owner. The approval of this law, together with the law on the privatization of meadows and pastures, the law on the privatization of forests, and especially the law on restitution and compensation for former landowners, completes the package of laws on land ownership. (Continued on page 2) TONIN ALIMEHILLI MP 1. Law 7501, “On Land,” states that land is given to the farmer as property on a per-capita basis. To deprive them of all the rights attached to property, such as buying and selling, gifting, and inheritance, means to alienate 60% of the population, foster insecurity over the property guaranteed by that law, hinder investment in land and the development of the workforce. The sale and purchase of agricultural land assigned to the farmer as property by law constitutes a social and economic choice concerning population movement, the expansion and development of the agricultural farm, and the modernization of rural agriculture. 2. The law on the sale and purchase of agricultural land is also political, since it marks the end of the institution of so- (Continued on page 2) FADIL ÇEPELE 1. The adoption of the law “on the sale and purchase of land” not only completes the package of laws on land ownership, but at the same time also implements that part of the PD program which deals with agrarian issues. -Land is a commodity like all other commodities and, as such, can be sold and bought like other commodities. The adoption of this law first of all creates security for the farmer regarding the property granted to them by law, as well as the legitimate right to use this property as they see fit. 2. The merit of our opposition is well known in the adoption of almost the majority of laws; it takes an opposing position, even against such a bylaw of an economic-financial nature, under the conditions of the progress of market-economy reform, as this l… (Continued on page 2)