Socialists from Vlora denounce the smuggler government officials ON PAGE 4

Arta Dade’s escorts fatally run over a guard ON PAGE 4

Lists are falsified to persecute the opposition ON PAGE 4

The ship “Tirana” is overcome by a nine-force sea. Only one aircraft managed to land at Rinas. The other victims will arrive in the early hours of the morning. The farewell ceremony will be held today in Vlora and Fier. Prodi with the victims’ families Despite the Italian government’s efforts to bring the victims’ bodies back to their homeland yesterday, bad weather and the sea once again prevented this from happening completely. Throughout Albania, the flag was flown at half-mast, and large shops, along with the families of those who drowned and bishops throughout the country, [text unclear]. In Vlora, Fier, Kukës, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, etc., the tragedy of March 28 was felt throughout the country. But it did not have the same impact in the cities of the government officials, who once again could not let the pain of Albanians stop them from attacking the Democratic Party with all their force. The Parliament, a heavy-handed spectacle broadcast on TV, angered all normal Albanians. On TV, the government officials called on the innocent members of the DP not to go to Vlora. They tried to prevent a major political provocation, which would have compounded the immense grief of the victims’ families, while stripping the country of its mourning garb and turning a day of grief into a political demonstration. The real authors of the Otranto tragedy, Arben Malaj, Bashkim Fino, Sabit Brokaj, Fatos Nano and the criminal Zani Çauši, are living through a Macbeth-like night. They have killed and are trying to hide their bloodstained hands. They began the killing of the 82 Otranto victims on the first day of March, when they ordered their gangs to open the arms depots. They continued their preparations for the killings throughout March, April and May, and are still doing the same during these two days of grief for Albanians. The [unclear] of the families whose loved ones drowned will not help them insult and kill the DP, nor hide their crime—the deaths of 82 people in a single moment. Likewise, playing with other people’s lives is a debt that must one day be repaid. The dead cannot speak to denounce [them]. The people of Vlora know well who the perpetrators of the Otranto tragedy are, and so does all Albania. Everyone now knows who sent the ship full of young men out to sea and where the money taken from those who, just hours ago, returned to Albania in coffins has gone. They know because everyone knows the Finance Minister, Arben Malaj, and the chief bandit, Zani Çauši. Everyone knows that it was the Socialist prime minister of those days, Bashkim Fino, who signed an agreement with the Italian government concerning the deployment of Italian warships against boats carrying Albanian refugees. Everyone knows that the Socialist government requested a bilateral investigation instead of the international investigation the DP has called for and continues to demand. Their [unclear] attitude toward the tragedy continued yesterday as well. Fino did not even ask for all the victims to be brought to Albania. Otranto is only one part of the crimes of this political class that governs Albania. Everyone knows that Sabit Gjikushi Gjushi, Neritan Ceka, Sabit Brokaj and others organized all the killings in Vlora, from the day their gangs broke open the arms depots until today. These people forced people to leave Vlora, to leave Albania. They are responsible for the crime of Otranto, and without these people, the country would not have had ten Otrantos [text unclear]. Where are Fino’s experts, who are not speaking? Is there something even bigger behind this tragedy? Are they committing a murder, and are the real murderers all acting together? Are they sitting in high positions in the Albanian state? By remaining silent and shifting the blame onto others, they cannot escape the crime they have committed. Criminals cannot rise above the deaths of their victims. May God help them find salvation.

[Unclear] the victims’ families at Rinas This little girl looks sadly at a model of a ship

Vlora, too, calls for an independent international investigation Voices accusing the current government officials of being directly implicated in the Otranto Tragedy are growing in number. Vlora, too, calls for an independent international investigation Government officials avoid bringing the truth to light Voices accusing the current government officials of being directly implicated in the Otranto Tragedy are growing in number. The ministers of the Nano Government, Brokaj and Islami, showed no interest in an international investigation into the Otranto Tragedy, openly displaying their fear that the truth about those responsible and the people implicated in this tragedy might come to light. In response to the concerns of Vlora’s citizens, yesterday they tried to justify a bilateral investigation by calling it the most comprehensive possible investigation. Voices accusing the current government officials of being directly implicated in the Otranto Tragedy are growing in number. For their part, they insist on a bilateral investigation into the causes that led to the ship’s sinking, in which more than 80 innocent people lost their lives. The Democratic Party again insisted that an independent international commission should investigate the tragedy. President Berisha and other senior officials of the PD Government have called for an international investigative commission ever since the ship sank in Otranto, but Bashkim Fino and the Socialist ministers in the Government of National Reconciliation opposed this request and decided that the investigation should be bilateral. Here, the Socialist ministers also maintained their reserved stance, without explaining why they fear an independent international investigative commission. Meanwhile, there are many witnesses who testify to the degree of involvement of today’s Socialist ministers, who direct the causes of the unrest in Vlora and throughout Albania [wording unclear].

Terrible days are predicted for Albanians Constitutional amendment soon to be submitted to Parliament. All of Nano’s undesirables who own property risk state intervention Terrible days are predicted for Albanians Imami: The nationalizations of ’45 should be reinstated Constitutional amendment soon to be submitted to Parliament. All of Nano’s undesirables who own property risk state intervention. Albania is at risk of a return to dictatorial laws for the nationalization of property. The Minister of Institutional Reforms, Arben Imami, announced yesterday that a constitutional amendment would be submitted to Parliament, paving the way for his government to nationalize private property. Imami’s shocking statement came in response to the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the case involving the VEFA company and the government, but its scope is much broader. The constitutional change announced yesterday by Imami means that the era of the mass nationalizations of 1945 is to return to Albania, when Enver Hoxha’s state took people’s homes, property and the assets of the wealthy. More than 50 years later, Albanian property owners are under the same threat as in the years after the Second World War, when their power could be threatened through the seizure of their valuable property. Imami said that the new amendment, which appears intended to restore confiscations and is to be approved by the commission and the “Kalashnikov deputies,” would mean that whenever private individuals affect social interests, the state should intervene. This means that the state of Albania’s former communists is returning to its origins, as private property is being stripped of its sacred status, which seemed to have been erased after pluralism was established in Albania. The amendment to be added to our constitutional laws poses a major threat to all private businesses and companies, including those with foreign partners, if they come under scrutiny or can be manipulated for private interests. Imami’s amendment will certainly not be a measure for the public good; it signals a new state with extraordinary taxes and nationalizations of the property of merchants and kulaks, as in Hoxha’s era. With power placed under the control of a politician entirely lacking in scruples, following the unconstitutional law on the High Council of Justice, it will be very easy to stir up social conflicts and seize the property of anyone who opposes Nano and his government. This is further grave evidence of the establishment of a socialist dictatorship in Albania and of the restoration, step by step, of Enver Hoxha’s regime.

Yesterday the Constitutional Court restored Alimuçaj’s property to him once again. The administrators have been stripped of the owner’s powers Government: VEFA will now be administered by a foreign company ON PAGE 5 Yesterday the Constitutional Court restored Alimuçaj’s property to him once again. The administrators have been stripped of the owner’s powers. VEFA ousts the state from its properties Government: VEFA will now be administered by a foreign company ON PAGE 5

Newspaper and magazine publishers meet again The postponement of the funeral ceremony for the Otranto victims forces publishers to change the strike date Newspaper and magazine publishers meet again Press strike postponed by one day The postponement of the funeral ceremony for the Otranto victims forces publishers to change the strike date. Yesterday, newspaper and magazine publishers and editors met at 20:00 at the offices of “Gazeta Shqiptare” to discuss the strike announced for November 15. It was decided that the publishers would issue a joint statement: “Following the postponement of the funeral ceremony in Vlora for the victims of the Otranto tragedy, due to bad weather, the publishers and editors of daily newspapers and magazines have decided that the indefinite strike will begin not on November 15, but on November 16, so that the funeral ceremony in Vlora can be covered. Therefore, starting Sunday, none of the following newspapers and magazines will be published. Other newspapers and magazines are invited to show solidarity with our strike until our demands are fully met. 1. Koha Jonë — Armand SHIKULLAKU 2. Republika — Dalip GRECA 3. Albania — Ylli RAKIPI 4. RD — Asim PATOZI 5. Gazeta Shqiptare — Fatos BAXHIAKU 6. Bulevard — Bedjo Malo 7. Shekulli — Artan Apostoli 8. Dita — Ibrahim Shehu 9. Klan — Aleksandër FRANGAJ 10. Hosteni — Filip ÇAKULLI”

Albania is once again in national mourning. Bad weather prevents all the victims of Otranto from arriving.

Citizens from Vlora write to us Nano, we may forgive you for the deception, but we will not forgive you for the blood ON PAGE 3