The Tirana Court signs Prime Minister Nano’s order ON PAGE 5

Nano kills and imprisons the opposition and seeks “exoneration” for his thefts ON PAGE 4

The Prosecutor’s Office is preparing a new wave of political arrests ON PAGE 4

Berisha: Europe knows that Fatos Nano’s Albania and Milošević’s Serbia are the only countries in today’s Europe with political prisons and political prisoners

By Bardhyl LONDO The international community has now assigned the Albanian president a difficult task: resolving the searing Albanian crisis. This hope on the part of the international community naturally stems from the role the president’s institutions should play in such shocking events, which nobody wants. But this solution also has a very obvious context: nobody in the West has any more confidence in the current prime minister or the one-colour parliament. Both these institutions have been completely ignored by the international community. And the president, although very late, took the first step with his message. It is clear that the Albanian crisis cannot be resolved with the first message. But without prejudging this step, and while awaiting further concrete steps as soon as possible, it must be said that the president’s message forgot many things; indeed, it forgot the cornerstones that must be laid as the foundation for the solution everyone desires and welcomes. the solution everyone desires and welcomes. But what did the president forget? The Gordian knot, without untying which there can be no question of a genuine, long-term solution. The president forgot to say that the crisis, despite the symptoms that had appeared earlier, became acute when those who have since come to be known as “the six” were arrested using methods typical of military juntas, and especially with the treacherous killing of the popular tribune, Azem Hajdari. This murder will haunt Albanian history and its future for a long time, because it is one of the most ominous deeds committed against people in our history. We all remember people and deputies such as Lujg Gurakuqi, Hasan Prishtina, or the group of opposition deputies in the first postwar years. When these wounds are still bleeding, how can the pain and hemorrhage of Azem Hajdari’s wound be endured? At the same time as our president was writing his message, the Interior Minister was washing his hands of responsibility and surrendering only in the face of the death of a Black immigrant... What must our government officials wait for before resigning? The president must remind the current prime minister that, since the establishment of pluralism, Albania is the only country in the former communist East where politicians and deputies have been murdered. It was this same prime minister who was in office when Arben Broci was killed; when Azem Hajdari was killed. How is it possible that the most prominent anti-communist politicians are murdered? How is it possible that the bullet, amid that crowd of thousands, “chose” Skënder Kalenja and Adem Shehu, two anti-communists whose families had openly declared themselves so since the establishment of the communist dictatorship? The president must remind the prime minister and the current government that it was precisely during their rule that political murders and political attacks began again. This is the most ominous symptom imaginable. If these attacks do not stop, if the revocation of parliamentary immunities, the Prosecutor’s Office’s absurd arrests, and the president’s imprisonment measures are not reversed, they are entirely futile. The former Interior Minister, with his proverbial wisdom and composure, said almost as an aside during the television debate on the “phenomenon”: “If the boss had shot, if he had shot the killer, today he would be alive in the cemetery.” Well, amidst the chaos of March 1997, or under Berisha’s “regime” then, they were not in power; nor are they in power under Berisha’s “regime” today, where there is no politician. And if this is the great accusation that has been brought, what great crime has taken place? The current prime minister dismisses the serious charge concerning the murders of politicians such as Arben Broci, Azem Hajdari, etc., which happen only under anti-democratic governments. The opposition political parties and the international community have not asked for messages; they have asked for talks between the parties. But can talks be demanded when the president, in unison with the party that brought him to the head of the institution he represents, continues to call the largest opposition party terrorist? The so-called “coup d’état” now exists only in the imagination of those seeking to preserve power, in government statements that the state television continues to broadcast and that are still throwing fuel on the fire. Nobody in the international community has accepted the current government’s conjecture about a coup d’état on 14 September. If the president is truly interested in calming tempers and beginning talks, he should call for an end to the current government’s provocative, warmongering statements, which feed the television screen every evening and incite the polarization of Albanian society. The current president should do what his predecessor accomplished on 9 March: begin resolving the crisis precisely by addressing the arrest of “the six,” and especially the upheaval caused by the murder of Azem Hajdari. The president’s message is now a fait accompli. While welcoming it, even as it stands, let us hope he will continue his initiative, which for now amounts to little more than mere courtesies, with concrete actions; and above all, we hope that through these actions he will get to the heart of the issues. The president has much in his hands concerning Albania’s democratic future. He must prove it.

Pollo: A first step toward resuming political dialogue is for the government to respect and fulfill all the EC recommendations ON PAGE 3

On 25.09.1998, the Burrel Municipal Council unanimously declared Azem Hajdari, martyr of Albanian democracy, an “Honorary Citizen” of the city of Burrel.

Today, at 17:30, in “Agif Pashë Elbasani” Square, the “League Against Dictatorship” is organizing a protest rally against Fatos Nano’s government. Today, at 10:00, the “League Against Dictatorship” in Peshkopi is organizing a protest rally in the town’s main square.

Television, the center of national hatred As the international community calls for a climate of reconciliation in Albania, mired in a deep political crisis, the demons of national hatred stand out with the entire spectrum of their unimaginable evil. There is no doubt that the chief demon is Fatos Nano, the man who drowned Albania in blood over the past two years and is now seeking to drag it into turmoil by attempting to foment civil war among Albanians. At a time when every detail of his government has been exposed, he is seeking to hold the entire country hostage by imposing the dictates of his clan, which presents Fatos Nano as the governing coalition’s only alternative. This challenge, accepted by everyone, from the President down to the most obscure members of the Socialist Party’s steering committee, is in fact this country’s great misfortune. If there is anyone who has fanned and stoked the flames of hatred like no one else in Albania, it is Fatos Nano. Just remember that Blerim Cela, whom the prime minister declared an enemy long ago, is still in prison on the most absurd and ridiculous charge in the world. Just remember that under his rule the roads and squares have been reddened with the blood of Democrats, from ordinary protesters to the immortal Azem Hajdari, the leader of December. Likewise, consider the imprisonment of Ekrem Spahias, leader of the third-largest party in Albania, and Sali Shehu, former police station chief, who defended Radio-Television from complete destruction. (Continued on page 5)

Yesterday, the rally in “Skënderbej” Square

The Parliamentary Assembly of the EC calls for an end to political arrests, the identification of the perpetrators of Azem Hajdari’s murder, and the restoration of parliamentary immunity for PD chairman Sali Berisha

Citizens of Tirana and all of Albania! Back in the square on Wednesday Everyone to the squares against Fatos Nano’s dictatorship! On Wednesday, September 30, at 18:00, all of Tirana to “Skënderbej” Square. The final hour has come! The squares of democracy are the squares of victory! Today Albania needs us! Everyone to “Skënderbej” Square!