Call by the “Bashkimi për Demokraci” for Friday, everyone in “Skënderbej” Square “Bashkimi për Demokraci” calls on all honest Albanians to strengthen their resistance to the government headed by Fatos Nano, the organizer and inspirer of state violence in Albania. “On Thursday, large protests in Durrës and Elbasan, while on Friday in Tirana a powerful demonstration for freedom and democracy will take place,” warns this opposition alliance. At around 03.00.1998, 6:00 p.m.[?], the organizers invite the citizens of Tirana and all of Albania to gather in “Skënderbej” Square to give a strong response to the red gang and the government of Fatos Nano, against the police response to popular protests. “Bashkimi për Demokraci” states that Friday's demonstration will be the largest anti-communist political manifestation in Albania since the fall of communism. In this rally, the opposition aims to demand the government's resignation, the release of political prisoners, and punishment for those responsible for the police violence carried out against citizens. The broad participation of citizens, the statement says, is the best guarantee that the protest will be peaceful and decisive for the fate of the country.

By Asllan TOTONI Alone in his now tragic environment, and convinced that he will soon be gone without even leaving behind the name of his wrongdoing in the miserable history of the post-communist nomenklatura in Albania, the socialist government is ruling with one hand leaning on the stakes of the rotten fence of the red mafia and with the other hand hidden in the rusted hook of police violence and state terror. Eros Nano, as a person and as a politician, is completely ruined. In his condition as a delinquent involved in all corrupt affairs and all criminal trafficking of public assets, he lives today with the dreadful anxiety of tomorrow, when, as a failed doctor, he will have to answer for everything. No political alibi, no fairy tale about a “coup d'état,” no propaganda thunder of the kind of class war against the "enemy of the class" can save him from punishment and popular hatred from now on. The protests of 31 August and the warning of a major citizen uprising in the coming days have shown that his political end is only a matter of time. The prime minister is no longer able to govern. He no longer possesses moral authority, political authority, or institutional authority. All segments of his power are eaten away by corruption, incompetence, and division. He can no longer rely even on the police, which is being used as a blind tool of repression, nor on the administration, which is falling apart, nor on the exhausted propaganda of the party-state. On Friday the opposition will put this rotten power to a serious test. It will ask for nothing less than Nano's departure and the liberation of the country from a clique that has usurped the state in the name of socialism, while in reality it has imposed a regime based on fear, theft, and deception. Eros Nano will leave not because his opponents want him to, but because political and social reality leaves no other path. The Albanian people are tired of lies, poverty, insecurity, and a government that thinks only of its own survival. The hour of trial is approaching. And this hour is no longer for rhetoric, but for decision.

The PS's cacophony over the serious situation created in Lazarat, in the district of Gjirokastra Who is analyzing the government's concern over the arrests The model of the prime minister, Fatos Demi, Albania station displaced and impractical, asks from the police districts standard ON PAGE 7

On Thursday, large protests in Durrës and Elbasan On Thursday, 03.09.1998, at 6:00 p.m., a protest march is being organized to denounce government violence. The organizers call on all citizens to take part in this protest. The march will start from the city center and end with a rally where speeches will be made to condemn police terror and demand the release of political detainees. It is expected that protesters from Durrës and Elbasan will join this civic action, which is considered a warning for Friday's major protest in Tirana. The organizers stress that mass participation is essential to show the government that citizens no longer accept violence, pressure, and state arbitrariness.

Berisha receives Turkish minister of state, Yücel Seçkiner According to Berisha, the PD/SH includes Nano's government and its police as the cause of the tension and the political arrests. The Turkish minister conveyed this concern during a meeting with the head of the PD, Sali Berisha. The Turkish minister stated that Turkey is following developments in Albania with attention and values the importance of preserving stability through respect for political freedoms and the rights of the opposition. Berisha, for his part, denounced the wave of arrests and police violence, stressing that the opposition will continue its democratic resistance until law and constitutional order are restored. At the meeting, they also discussed bilateral relations and the support that Turkey has given Albania in difficult moments. Today at 4:00 p.m., at the headquarters of the Democratic Party, a meeting took place between Mr. Sali Berisha and the Turkish minister of state, Mr. Yücel Seçkiner, also accompanied by the ambassador of Turkey in Tirana. Mr. Seçkiner informed the chairman of the PDSH that the Turkish government is following with concern the political arrests and clashes with the police that have occurred in recent days and emphasized that stability cannot be maintained through repression of the opposition. Berisha thanked the Turkish minister for his concern and stressed that the opposition is determined to defend the constitutional rights of the citizens. Yücel said the country should be an example of a place where problems are solved by consensus. The meeting with the minister of state ended in a very friendly atmosphere.

Chaos in the central directorate and government pressure on judges and police ON PAGE 7

The police demanded PD commitments, were they coming to the rally of 31 August ON PAGE 7

Special responsibility: he leaves without requesting a hearing and meets with lawyer Petraq Skhila ON PAGE 7

(Continues on page 3) [long text partly illegible, printed vertically in a frame] Of these, 4 people are PD employees, while 2 are journalists. The purpose of the statement is to denounce arbitrary arrests and police violence against the opposition and the media. According to the statement, the arrests were carried out without a prosecutor's order and without respecting legal procedures. In conclusion, a call is made for civic solidarity and for a reaction against state repression.