Berisha at a Press Conference: The Minister of the Interior will block aid for Albania. No guarantee for restoring order. Police on break, gangs work Arbnori locked in a hunger strike. PD deputies proclaim the “Arbnori Amendment” Interview with Pjetër Arbnori during the hunger strike They threatened to take me out of the strike by force Taken illegally out of the “prison” of the former Central Committee of the PPSH, today Parliament of Albania? - How does Pjetër Arbnori feel today? Today, on the 7th day of the strike, I think it is a sacrifice for the homeland and for freedom and democracy that are in danger. It is no longer a matter of personal passion; we are in such a situation that these things have acquired special value. I made this decision seeing the situation the country is in. And the haste with which this government is trying to turn it into a dictatorship, without openly declaring it, by putting all orders into effect through the ministries and the police. At the highest level they have circulated state money to buy their political opponents. They have placed their own people in the commissions. But how lawful are these commissions? They appointed a CEC chairman without the opposition’s consent. And it is known that the chairman of the central commission is elected by consensus. They made it a done deal unilaterally. The central commission has taken on the powers of the Constitutional Court, which does not yet exist. For example, it accepted that a party be registered without the required signatures, as per the rules. The only proper electoral commissions were the counting commission and the polling-station commission, because such an agreement was reached for them to be administered by both sides. Yes, now everything depends on the central commission. The way its chairman was chosen places the fairness of the election management itself under very serious doubt. Were these elections held in your opinion? No, they were held with low participation. Many commissions have been killed and kidnapped, many candidates have been threatened, there has been continuous psychological terror and, of course, in such a situation there could not have been free elections. They were held under unequal conditions, with propaganda, police patronage, economic pressure. I think this harsh political and institutional climate has stripped the democratic process of any guarantee. Second day of the hunger strike

Second day of the hunger strike Violent murders, injuries, kidnapping, Rrila Our cooperation was achieved through understanding

Insider-vali: I was chief of the Secret Service, Alban Haxhinj recalls the appointment. How he worked and how he was dismissed ON PAGE 3

Explosive shell, what kind of anti-Albanian provocation[?] - at the Albanian-Macedonian border PD statement. About the police over the killings on the Alb[?]-Macedonian border “- from the ‘Jeni’ region” - from the border? “- We can’t make sense of the Macedonians” ON PAGE 2

TIRANE, Censure? ne— Human Rights Watch Helsinki sharply criticized the government and the Ministry of the Interior of Albania for the weak response to crimes against journalists and for the use of force against the free press. In a statement, the organization says that the Albanian authorities must immediately investigate cases of violence against the media and punish those responsible. Police should answer for the crime Human Rights Watch Helsinki criticizes the response of the Albanian authorities for the wounding of the journalist Bepapada[?] ON PAGE 7

, ON PAGE 4 Nano’s chief prosecutor linked to the Albanian diamond mafia, ON PAGE 4 Cigarette trafficking blocked, ON PAGE 4 Oveçka: Nano does not enjoy Europe’s amnesty