Judges across the country express solidarity with the lawyers’ strike 425 legal professionals are defended by their colleagues. The Tirana Court closed its doors for an hour. The strike will involve the entire justice system. The international community will not tolerate state interference in justice. Yesterday, a strike at the Tirana Court

. Albania risks being left without judges. In support of the judges whom the government has proposed dismissing from their posts, the entire judicial system in the country has expressed solidarity with its colleagues, victims of a scandalous attack on the judicial system. Yesterday, a one-hour strike was declared at the Tirana Court in support of the 425 judges at risk of being driven out of the offices of justice and onto the streets, while all the country’s courts will follow the example of the Tirana Court. This system of rule that has come to Albania since 29 June can also be described as rule by calamity: strikes wherever it goes. Over these months, more strikes have been declared in Albania than may have taken place throughout the entire history of the Albanian state taken together, while their recurrence makes them the exception in comparison with all the countries of Europe and beyond. The strike that began two days ago in the justice system has never been seen in European courts, not because other courts would not strike, but because the state has never provoked the judicial system so severely as to drive all the judges out into the courtyard. Nor has a general strike by local government been seen in any other country, because no government other than the one now in Albania has attacked local government in such arbitrary ways, starting with undermining its independence, stopping local investments, making arbitrary changes to management personnel, and even gravely attacking the laws on local government. Likewise, there have also been strikes by secondary-school pupils in Tirana, Gjirokastër and Elbasan. It can then be said that this government is anti-human, inhumane and anti-democratic. The spread of its misrule throughout the entire social system and across all social strata is a major reason for it to be removed as soon as possible. But this government’s harsh dictatorial hand has not spared all the other state institutions either, and as a consequence of these regressive changes, four DP deputies have held hunger strikes in front of the television station, as has the former Speaker of the People’s Assembly in a 20-day hunger strike. The application of such an aggressive policy at every level and against every class of people presents the calling of new elections as the only possible way to resolve such a crisis. The government’s failure to govern is evident not only in the major conflict it is waging between the state itself and the people, but also in its inability to resolve various crises in different parts of the country. The city of Lezhë and dozens of villages were left not only without a livelihood but under water for four days in a row, while the government has yet to show any reaction to such a situation. People who stammer—and there are ministers like Apostoli and others too—are not very different from a government determined to do nothing for people sleeping in the water. Likewise, for some time now, one branch of the state, which ought to function neither for good nor ill, has been inactive: the letters that President Mediani receives are interrupted only by the knocks of some NGO, some intercom call to a state office, and matters concerning the justice and culture levels or the reconstruction of the National Theatre. If the government, at all its levels, from the institutions of the President onward, is at work, while the parliamentary majority as an institution does not function and all it does is sign unconstitutional violations, then strikes will multiply, whether by many thousands or by a few. Lezhë will not emerge from the water, the ranks of jurists will be thrown out onto the streets, to do what is called the protest for the necessary overthrow. S. NEZA

Rains destroy farmers’ crops The state continues to discuss taking measures while villagers travel from one house to another by rubber dinghy. The President is concerned and asks for money for... the theatre! ON PAGE 5

DP gathering in Tirana: The chairman calls for new elections Saturday, the day hope for democracy is inaugurated ON PAGE 2

Enver Hoxha’s old villa has been turned into an orgy center where senior government officials entertain themselves The Directorate of Government Services, a center for drugs and prostitution The Directorate of Government Services has become a major hub for drug trafficking from Albania to Italy and a prostitution center for senior government officials. Its director, Gazmend Demi, a close friend of Fatos Nano, has placed himself at the head of the network transporting the white powder to its destination, in connection with Italian Mafia circles. Reliable sources within the Directorate of Government Services report that three days ago, new employees of the directorate, brought into the service on the direct orders of Demi himself, successfully transported 150 kilograms of cocaine to Turin, Italy. The drugs, which came from Macedonia, were escorted without problems to the Port of Durrës, and from there sent on to Bari, Italy, where another team of Albanian Mafiosi transported them to Turin. Meanwhile, under the direct supervision of Mr. Gazmend Demi himself, the part of Enver Hoxha’s old villa at the disposal of the Directorate of Government Services has been turned into a prostitution center where the power elite gather. Unrestrained orgies have been held in the former dictator’s villa by senior government officials, but despite the organizers’ extensive efforts at secrecy, it has not been possible to keep them secret. The newspaper’s editorial office will inform readers in upcoming issues of the names of the senior government officials who have enjoyed nights at Enver Hoxha’s old villa, in the company of redheads and prostitutes selected by Gazmend Demi’s employees. R.M.

Smuggling puts Nano’s and Malaj’s interests at odds Fotaq Zhupa, the current deputy director, is expected to take over as Director General of Customs Fatos Nano and his other government officials, mired in the muck of smuggling, have not only interests that unite them, but also specific spheres of influence that divide them. What appears to be an organized business where everything runs in perfect harmony is not quite so. At the Directorate General of Customs, it is now perfectly clear that Prime Minister Nano and Finance Minister Arben Malaj keep separate private accounts fed by this institution. The Deputy Director General of Customs, Fotaq Zhupa, is known as Nano’s man, who hands the prime minister a large percentage of the profits from opening the border gates through which smuggled goods pour. Meanwhile, the Director General of Customs, Gëzim Bleta, is Arben Malaj’s right-hand man, and not everything is running smoothly between the two senior customs officials. The division of spheres of influence, which does not correspond to the ranks they hold, has led to talk within the customs directorate of Bleta’s possible removal from his post. Bleta’s dismissal will be justified on the grounds of the rampant smuggling in recent times, but the real reason will be his encroachment into Fatos Nano’s sphere of influence. Z.K.

Gatherings of DP branches in Delvinë and Sarandë ON PAGE 2 Stop the rusted Bolshevik locomotive

Secretary General of EDU, Aleksis Vintonjak: Europe does not allow judges to be assaulted and imprisoned “The elections of June 29 were neither free nor fair. Further steps toward democracy must be taken” ON PAGE 3

“Bashkimi për Demokraci” condemns the violence against legal professionals ON PAGE 3