Fatos Nano orders the detention and arrest of citizens on political grounds ON PAGE 7

The police mistreat PD members who were on their way to the 31 August rally ON PAGE 7

The Council of Europe special representative, Papakonstantinu, meets with lawyer Kreshnik Spahiu ON PAGE 7

The Prime Minister’s seat is shaking. The release of political prisoners is the democrats’ first objective, but not their last. Friday is the hour of the great test Nano’s chances are over By Astrit PATOZI Fatos Nano has sent strong signals of retreat and is now seeking a way to save his government wagon, perched on the edge of the abyss, following the outbreak of mass democratic protests in Tirana and throughout Albania. Nano’s inner circle and the press close to him said that the Prime Minister was trying to find the necessary legal mechanisms to escape the fact that has him by the throat, at a time when everyone is pointing the finger at him as the sole culprit behind the arrests of 22 August. The Prime Minister and the mafia clan around him now seemed deeply regretful—not about the consequences Albanians would face from the return of political prisons to the country, but about the unpredictable tradition of those in power. He now seemed deeply regretful, not political prisons to the country, but about the unexpected shock his own power had suffered. There is now no doubt that the opposition’s direct accusations against Fatos Nano are fully justified. Despite his desperate efforts to incriminate close and distant associates as responsible for the midnight arrests that robbed all Albanians of their sleep, no one doubts any longer that everything was done not merely with the Prime Minister’s knowledge, but on his orders. Even the children of Tirana know that Sabi Brokaj, who wielded unlimited power during last year’s turmoil, now endures the status of a sidelined figure, unheard by any of the powerful government structures. Everyone knows that, although he cannot say so publicly himself, Gramoz Ruçi has neither the guts nor the force, nor the power he once had, to shoulder responsibility for signing the return of the era of political prisoners in Albania. As for Mejdan, who may be accused of complicity in the affair and of being involved in the country’s misgovernment because he accepted the sordid role of puppet President, he is the only one among Nano’s appointees to have publicly distanced himself from direct responsibility for the 22 August arrests. Thus, the card of shifting the blame for the crime has been left in Nano’s hand, and all the vacillating Westerners in Tirana have been shocked by the shameless way the Prime Minister has chosen to deceive them. It is precisely for these reasons that the fiery protests in the capital stop and intensify outside the Prime Minister’s office or home, while the democrats’ calls throughout the country demand Fatos Nano’s removal and downfall. Now he stands more exposed than ever before the Albanians and the West as the man bearing full responsibility for all the ills that have befallen Albania since the beginning of last year. And now that the crowds are moving with determination and menace to the opposition’s beat, Fatos Nano seems to have exhausted every chance of keeping his seat. But where is the Prime Minister mistaken when he seeks legal loopholes for the six detainees, hoping to ease the tense political climate in the country? First, none of the democrats and free citizens of this country will forgive Nano for trying to restore dictatorship in Albania with all its terrifying capabilities. For the protesters “of the [unclear]”, as a newspaper close to Nano puts it, the Prime Minister must answer for bringing back political prisons like those of Hoxha and Alia’s time. Fatos Nano has made millions of people persecuted by the communist dictatorship understand that he could kill them again without trial, imprison them for their anti-communist ideas, and deport them again, just as his spiritual father and his real father once did. Of course, this group, bearing thousands of wounds and years of imprisonment, which showed restraint once in the early 1990s in the name of the highest ideals and avoided political revenge, now feels twice as humiliated. They and others who suffered just as much no more than seven years ago at the hands of the present Prime Minister’s predecessor and Fatos Nano himself cannot forgive him this latest outrage; indeed, they will also recall the old stories, just as the crimes against today’s prisoners add to the earlier crimes. That is why the democrats can no longer be galvanized in their powerful protest solely by the release of political prisoners, which nevertheless remains their primary objective. But if Shamata, Çela, Zhulali and the others are released after an initially incomprehensible period, no one can feel relieved about this generation [unclear] and let it govern again, except for the one directed by Hoxha’s son, the Prosecutor General, to formulate the indictment. If Shamata, Çela, Zhulali, Rama, Milosmani and Lusha are now in prison for “crimes against humanity” they allegedly attempted to commit, Fatos Nano has fully committed the crime, leaving thousands of Albanians dead, wounded, injured and insulted, and putting everyone at risk of losing their freedom. (Continued on page 3)

Call from “Unity for Democracy”: On Friday, everyone to “Skënderbej” Square Powerful protest against neo-dictatorship “Unity for Democracy” calls on all honest Albanians who believe in freedom and its values, true nationalists who aspire to a free Albania, and people on the right wherever they are in Albania, to join the citizens of Tirana on Friday, 4 September, at 18:00 in “Skënderbej” Square for their protest against the dictators governing you, the Reds who, after seizing power by force, do not stop imposing their platform on the opposition. Patriots from all over Albania! Let us gather on Friday at 18:00 in “Skënderbej” Square to say no to political revenge, no to political killings and trials against the opposition! Let us all stand together in defense of our democratic ideal, in defense of the true values of democracy, for the peace of the nation! Together to defend freedom! Tomorrow will be too late!

Large protests in Durrës and Elbasan on Thursday On Thursday, September 3, 1998, at 18:00, “Bashkimi për Demokraci” is organizing large rallies in Durrës and Elbasan to protest against the political imprisonment of the opposition, against the Nano government, against government violence, terror, poverty, corruption, and insecurity in the country. All citizens of Durrës and Elbasan are invited to join their voices fearlessly with all of Albania in protest, to restore freedom and democracy to Durrës, Elbasan, and all of Albania.

Lazarat will not allow Kakavijë to be turned into the gateway through which smuggling enters along with anti-Albanianism DPA statement on the grave situation created in Lazarat, in the district of Gjirokastër The Democratic Party of Albania declares that: The DPA denounces the communist trap that Fatos Nano’s clique has laid for Lazarat and its wonderful residents, distinguished in the history of the nation for their profound patriotism, courage and wisdom, and for their resistance to communist persecution and to Fatos Nano’s clique. With its anti-Lazarat trap, Nano’s clique once again showed its true criminal face: that of political malice and a ruthless war against political opponents, not even sparing their physical elimination. On other occasions, too, Prime Minister Nano has provoked bloodshed in Lazarat by arresting dozens of people from Lazarat without any reason, threatening them, dismissing them from their jobs, and attacking the businesses they had managed to build during the years of democracy. After its course in Shkodër failed, it returned to Lazarat, just as a Greek chauvinist newspaper had announced days earlier. The village of Lazarat is a stronghold of the values of democracy in Albania, a powerful bastion for preserving national pride, and an insurmountable barrier to all those government bandits trying to turn Kakavijë into a gateway for smuggling and Albanian economic crime. But Lazarat and Gjirokastër will never allow the Nano government to bring, through this gateway, anti-Albanianism and the chauvinism of extremist Greek circles along with smuggling. The DPA condemns the insinuations the Albanian government has made through the media it controls and calls on it not to provoke Lazarat any further, to stop the bloodshed and the use of State Security methods.

The lawyer for former Interior Minister Arben Ristani considers the investigation by a military prosecutor’s office illegal ON PAGE 7

The police director is trying to pin the crime on Lazarat. Several young people from Lazarat are arrested and released shortly afterward. The victim’s father demands that the chief terrorist commanding the police answer for his blood Police checkpoint kills young man from Libohova. National road Gjirokastër–Kakavijë blocked ON PAGE 4

Berisha receives Turkish Minister of State Yucel Seckiner Yesterday, the Chairman of the DPA, Sali Berisha, received Turkish Minister of State Yucel Seckiner at the DPA Central Headquarters. At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister of State of the Republic of Turkey, Yucel Seckiner, told the Chairman of the DPA, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha: “I have come to meet you at the request of Turkish President Demirel and Prime Minister Yillmaz, and to convey their warmest and friendliest greetings.” He said that Turkey is ready to provide every kind of assistance for Albania’s progress, to help it and, in particular, to contribute to finding a political solution for Kosovo. Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha thanked his Turkish guest for the visit and spoke highly of Albanian-Turkish friendship and of the contribution President Demirel and Prime Minister Yillmaz have made and continue to make toward strengthening this friendship. Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha told his Turkish guest that he would like President Demirel and Prime Minister Yillmaz to use their influence by pressing international bodies even more strongly to find a solution to the Kosovo issue, whose people are making sacrifices and living through very difficult days. Mr. Seckiner expressed his interest in and concern about the worsening political situation in Albania and the arrests of six former senior state officials. The Chairman of the DPA informed Mr. Seckiner about the latest political developments in Albania, the increasing political tension, and the political arrests of six former senior officials of the state and the Albanian Army by Nano’s clique, which is turning Albania into a country of political prisons and arrests as in the days of the communist dictatorship. Mr. Berisha informed the Turkish Minister of State that the current government’s declaration that Albania is a country of Islamic terrorism is a stain that our rulers are placing on their own country, driving away investors and investment and creating isolation for Albania. The meeting took place in a very friendly atmosphere.