Today, the socialists’ extraordinary conference. Changes in the leadership are expected. The SP is more compromised than ever Arben Blushi, a pyramid-scheme sub-builder, is headed for the post of Secretary General. Gramoz Ruçi, former Minister of State Security, returns for the “renewal” of the Socialist Party. Little chance for Servet Pëllumbi and a strong chance for another relative of Nano, Vladimir Prela. Nano is turning the party into his family’s clan. ON PAGE 3

The current authorities have secured the lives of criminals, but not the lives of police officers. The blue uniform has become a cheap target today: anyone can aim at it and kill, and nothing will happen to them. Criminals have run amok as never before and think nothing of shooting at police rapid-response units, at officers who intervene at the scene, or at others going to or returning from duty. The bandits seemed quite cool-headed and just as well protected from police attacks or the strong hand of the state. This could never happen, except when the very same gangs had previously made themselves the state, with the police themselves in their service. The night before last, four police officers were killed and others injured in an incident near Ballsh by an armed, masked gang. Two other officers were also killed in Pukë while intervening to protect people from masked men, and so on. The police are in a tragic situation. Betrayed by the state’s senior leaders and their chiefs, they have become a target for the gangs, which are closely linked politically to the socialists and, in quieter times, rob, kill, assault and murder police officers. Those who are not in high office have little power to protect them. More than seventy police officers have been killed, while criminals face no trouble at all. A small group of them have been gathered in Tirana prison, and even there it is the police who stand guard. Among the police forces there is an unshakable belief that arresting a criminal puts one’s job at risk. Many of today’s masked men were on the election headquarters of the country’s leaders and, with the threat of their Kalashnikovs, intimidated voters into voting for them. For eight months, these ties have not been severed; instead, they have been strengthened through organized crime, smuggling and all kinds of other illicit activity. Criminals are the foundation of today’s government, and government officials are their political armor. None of the senior state officials needs a blue uniform. None of them cares about having a strong police force confronting crime, since they have their own police force—the masked gangs—which they can activate whenever they want, as they did in the days of March. The divide between the police and the state has never been greater. The police are like orphans within the smuggling government, its greatest victim and hostage, all the way up to their minister. Across the entire state pyramid, a system has been created behind which crime hides. No trial has yet been held against any bandit. Hundreds of statements have been gathered about various criminal groups, but the state has silenced everyone. Anyone who might reveal something faces public punishment or other consequences. As part of this policy, even Parliament has been turned into something else. Two-thirds of the laws passed by the majority favor the businesses of police personnel, masked men, criminals and those in power. The link between those in power and crime has its victims. In Albania, the direct victims are the police officers. They have been betrayed, used and, ultimately, killed. S.N.

French Senate President Monory reiterates his invitation to the Chairman of the DP, Mr Sali Berisha The photograph of the police vehicle bears the word: POLICE

During a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party and the head of its parliamentary group, Mr Genc Pollo, the President of the French Senate, Mr Henri Monory, expressed his invitation for the DP chairman, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, to pay an official visit to France at a time convenient for him. Also at this meeting, Mr Monory personally renewed the invitation, expressed his strong support for a democratic Albania, and said that he was following the country’s political developments with great interest. “I would like to come to Albania,” Mr Monory stressed, “but I will make my visit when Albania is truly free.” At this meeting, Mr Genc Pollo thanked Mr Monory for his intervention in support of Albanian democracy and for his detailed attention to the Democratic Party’s position on the conflictual situation in the country. As the opposition, we are committed to defending the values and principles of democracy and the rule of law, which have not existed since these communists came to power. The invitation extended to the DP chairman, which joins similar invitations from other Western countries, once again demonstrates the unwavering support enjoyed by the Democratic Party and its chairman in the international community.

Despite the work done by the police, there is no clear lead on the perpetrators. ON PAGE 4

The Minister of Finance is not giving up cigarette and tobacco smuggling ON PAGE 5

Serious traffic accident on the Kukës–Shkodër road ON PAGE 4

The DP offers condolences to the families of the murdered police officers. The real perpetrators of the killings are today’s leaders The DP offers condolences to the families of the murdered police officers. The real perpetrators of the killings are today’s leaders Leaders of the rebel committees are killing the police The Democratic Party assures their families that the true perpetrators of the crime will receive the punishment they deserve only in a state governed by the rule of law, without gangs and committees. Last night, in the district of Malësia e Madhe, police officers A. Bregasi and V. Voda were killed, while the other officers N. Hyska, B. Hamiti and A. Rama were wounded by an organized gang led by the leaders of the southern rebel committees in Ballsh. This criminal act, directed against the police forces who were going to help a group of citizens being looted, is further evidence that the situation in the country is out of control. In the past week alone, seven officers and police employees have been killed by organized crime, and six others wounded. The Democratic Party condemns all this brutality, carried out by associates of today’s government, who, organized into rebel committees, brought it to power through violence. It urgently calls on the current government to stop placing members of gangs and committees in the police force—people who, instead of fighting crime, inform their associates about police movements and operations. The Democratic Party informs the international community that all the police are under control and that the country is being plunged into a deep crisis. This crisis is the result of the current government’s irresponsible policy toward restoring order and of its appointment of gang and committee members to head police stations. The real perpetrators of crimes against the police are therefore the current leaders of the Albanian government, who, instead of genuinely fighting organized crime and smuggling, assist them by passing on information about police operations. This chaotic situation within the Albanian police offers no promise of restoring order and calm in the country. While expressing its deepest condolences to the victims’ families, the Democratic Party assures them that it stands by them in these difficult moments. At the same time, it calls on the government to take urgent measures to provide services to those who are uninsured. The DP assures their families that the true perpetrators of the crime will receive the punishment they deserve only in a state governed by the rule of law, without gangs and committees.

“These decisions cannot be called into question, because that would call into question the very concept of the state in Albania” Majko attacks the Court: The decisions of the Constitutional Court are the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Albania ON PAGE 3

Successful meetings of Democrats in Pukë, Fushë-Arrës and Krujë: The socialists have brought us misery and poverty The residents of remote areas are in an extremely difficult situation. Winter reserves are lacking, and bread has begun to be bought on credit. Today Bode, Hajdari, Topalli, Laco and Starova are in Korçë ON PAGE 2

The socialists pass a law for political purges in the justice system The justice system is being taken over by prosecutors and judges from the dictatorship, who summon people, conduct politically staged trials, burned people with cigarettes and massacred thousands of innocent victims in the cells of communist prisons ON PAGE 2

An undeclared state of emergency in Albania. Armored vehicles on the streets of the capital. The Ministry of the Interior admits failure: “The country is under the power of the gangs”

Berisha offers condolences to the families of the Kukës victims The condolence telegram sent by the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, to the families of the victims who lost their lives in the car accident near Kukës, says: “The tragic death of your loved ones has deeply saddened me. I pray to God, and join you in praying, that the souls of your loved ones may rest in eternal peace and that you may find the spiritual strength to bear the pain of this loss. On behalf of the Democratic Party, I extend my deepest condolences to you and all your friends and relatives.”