The Prime Minister himself signed the arrests of former PD officials. The government is proving that it has set SHIK against the opposition. Fatos Klosi appears to be subject to criminal prosecution By Bahri Londo Albania has been boiling over these last 25 days because of scandals that carry a bullet in them, the outlines of which are hard to imagine. To create a blockade, yet not block it! To kill a citizen and not hand him over to justice. To attack and destroy the doors of an opposition party and not punish the perpetrators. To take hostage the prefect of the opposition and attribute the matter to the opposition. To incite and cover up an arson attack and accuse the political opponent. To call on an entire administration to resign and give no explanation. To order political arrests while labeling them administrative. To remain silent in the face of all this and govern as if nothing has happened. This is Albania in August 1998. A country where the state has been stripped of every institutional decor and turned into an instrument of violence and alibi. At the center of this picture stands Prime Minister Nano. Not only as a political responsible party, but as the signer and instigator of actions that have put the country on a one-way road. The arrests of former officials of the Democratic Party, carried out hastily and without transparency, have produced not only shock, but also evidence that the government has used SHIK against the opposition. If these proofs turn out to be complete, criminal responsibility does not stop at the low-ranking order-givers. It rises all the way to the highest leaders of the executive and the intelligence service. Fatos Klosi appears to be subject to criminal prosecution. Tomorrow begins a political battle that could turn into a national turning point. Nano's downfall is presented not only as an opposition goal, but as a reaction to a model of governance consumed by arrogance, revenge, and fear. Citizens are being called to take to the streets. Not for a display of force, but to demand accountability. If the state has been used against pluralism, then the democratic response becomes a duty. The bells of this August ring for an end. And this end has a political name.

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The leadership of the Democratic Party decides to escalate the protests

PD representatives meet with Ambassador Everts

Press statement by the PD spokesperson, Sali Berisha ON PAGE 3

SHIK, police are acting against the opposition ON PAGE 3

The 31 August protest, an hour of trial for democracies. Sabotage of RD by the democrats, they say? At the very least, the destruction of such a world in the history of the Albanians, and also of our spiritual culture, must be paid for. That is certain. Never in 70 years have we known this phenomenon so closely and so much! We have understood it through the stories of surviving victims of terror, but also during the last 8 months here in Albania. Never in 70 years has the Albanian state struck the freedom of the people so mercilessly and criminally. Which destiny, or under whose protection? In a protected way? This is a responsibility that weighs on both the government and the opposition.

TEK-BINGO Nice Wolsbergen 40 million