Today, once again, everyone in “Skënderbej” Square Today, October 7, 1998, at 17:00, the League Against Dictatorship is organizing a large peaceful rally in “Skënderbej” Square to protest against dictatorship, political crackdowns and imprisonment. The League Against Dictatorship invites all its members, supporters and all the citizens of Tirana to join together on Wednesday in “Skënderbej” Square: 1. To find the killers of Azem Hajdari. 2. To free the political prisoners. 3. For everyone’s freedoms and rights. 4. Against the informational terror of RTSH All together, to invite together! family, the Holy See has selected as its sole representative of Albanian politics the young politician from Shkodër. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, member of the presidium of the

The Ministry of Public Order begins political purges ON PAGE 5

“Friends of Albania” meet in Tirana. Majko must radically change the way the government is run Majko signed the contract for the looting of tenders “Friends of Albania” meet in Tirana. Majko must radically change the way the government is run The government destroyed the country Majko signed the contract for the looting of tenders

Dialogue, the magic word but also the most misused one, has once again appeared on the Albanian political scene. We call it magic because it has been played with and abused so much in our country. Those who govern today, before taking power, loudly proclaimed themselves supporters of talks, sitting at the table and dialogue, only to appear entirely different later on. Dialogue as a magic word was used on March 9 of last year, when all the political forces in Albania, at the initiative of the Democratic Party, signed the National Reconciliation Agreement. And, for a magical moment, the same thing happened again without things being burned and destroyed—at least, they were not burned. But that was as far as it went. Dialogue was later cast aside by the Socialist Party and its allies during the June 29 election campaign, when the muzzles of Kalashnikovs, deception, physical terror and psychological terror took the place of electoral propaganda. The outcome is known: elections acceptable for the moment and a kind of political solution. And if at that time (whether intentionally or not) the Socialist Party and its allies, among them also several miniature associations, appreciated the Democratic Party’s step, it took no more than a few months for members of Nano’s government to blaspheme against that agreement and that dialogue, which had at least treated them very generously. On September 14, a few hours after the events that followed the funeral ceremony of the December Leader, Azem Hajdari, several ministers appeared on state television. The event was being portrayed as a coup, and the “heroes” who had saved the country spoke to the people. Happy, changed, hurried to the point of self-defense, the ministers (some of them had been drinking whiskey that day to act manly, while it is not known where the others had hidden) said there would never again be an agreement like that of March 9 and that they would never accept dialogue with the opposition. It was understood that, for the opposition and its calls for a political settlement, the answer would be bullets, refusal and persecution. Just as had happened before. On August 15, the Democratic Party asked Fatos Nano to sit down at a dialogue table to discuss the constitution. The opposition took the first step. What was the government’s response? At midnight on August 22, six former senior PD officials were arrested, accused of crimes against humanity. The accusation proved absurd, despite the General Prosecutor’s Office’s efforts to make it at least somewhat credible. In any case, the six figures, although they had supposedly “wrought havoc on humanity,” are now under house arrest. The government’s slogan did not stop there. Dialogue was not only left unmentioned; it was undermined from the foundations when those in power killed the symbol of democracy, Azem Hajdari. Today, as the height of irony, dialogue is being called for once again. Anyone can ask: With whom will dialogue take place? The person appointed to head the Ministry of Public Order just four days ago is a former leader of the family rescue committees. The city of Fier still bears the traces of Petro Koci’s “protests,” but the Minister, who has held the senior post for only a few days, wants to make peace himself and impose it in Tirana, and throughout Albania. Democrats have been subjected to Socialist brutality, and even the sister of Besim Çeraj, who was killed along with Azem Hajdari, is in Tirana prison today after being mistreated by law-enforcement forces. The supposedly moderate actions of Mijoko, Europe’s youngest prime minister, are unforgivable creations designed to make the resumption of dialogue seem credible. The killers of Azem Hajdari still walk free; opposition leaders are under constant threats of physical elimination; Albanian prosecutors bare their teeth and, through a grotesque and farcical statement, say that for any act of violence by the army against them they will directly blame Berisha; those who burned the country’s institutions a year ago are sitting in ministerial armchairs; those who led Albania and drained it, making it “the most corrupt country in Europe,” say they will soon return to the heights of power… and dialogue is being called for once again.

Jozefina Topalli invited to the Vatican. Audience with His Holiness, John Paul II The representative of the Democratic Party, Jozefina Topalli, has been invited to take part in the meeting that the Holy See will organize at the Vatican this month. The aim of this meeting will be to seek ways to guide people, to care for them, and, with the help of rational reflection and the human sciences, to consider politicians’ vocation as responsible builders of today’s society. This meeting will serve to respect and promote the human person in all their dimensions. Topalli considers the promotion of human rights, personal, social, economic and political rights—including the rights of nations and peoples—to be everyone’s individual duty, and all the more so for those engaged in politics. The invitation received by Ms. Topalli states that Pope Wojtyła will receive the Shkodran politician in an audience. The Kosovo issue is expected to be discussed at the Pope Wojtyła–Topalli meeting, as well as the existing social problems affecting the social context of Albania today. She naturally welcomes the Pope’s outreach regarding Kosovo, which calls on the international community not to remain a spectator, but to intervene to resolve this tragedy. A. S.

The PD among European partners at the National Congress of the British Conservatives

DP denounces the continuation of the informational blackout on TVSH The Democratic Party’s spokesperson strongly protests the bias of TVSH’s political news coverage, which has turned from a state television station into a Telemajko. In this television station’s 8:00 p.m. news bulletin on September 6, 27 minutes were devoted entirely to Prime Minister Majko, President Meidani, and government ministers, while the opposition received only 1 minute and 10 seconds (50 seconds for the DP and 30 seconds for the PDK). Continuity Prime Minister Majko, following his hypocritical statements the previous day before the staffs of ATSH and TVSH about the independence of news coverage and equal airtime for political parties, today in practice carried out a total takeover of the state media, turning it into Telemajko. The Democratic Party once again condemns this irresponsible act by the prime minister, as part of the vicious war waged by the Nano-Majko clan against the opposition, to leave it in complete informational darkness while bombarding public opinion with false, yet aggressive, propaganda, further implicating the state media in the continuation of Nano’s policy. We call on Prime Minister Majko to abandon this discriminatory policy and implement the Arbnori amendment, which he himself has also signed.

“The Constitution must be a priority element of the dialogue package, which remains a façade and fruitless if it takes place in the presence of political prisons, state protection for Hajdari’s killers, and the pursuit and persecution of the opposition” . The DP calls on government officials to restore political dialogue in Albania on the basis of the Council of Europe resolution. The loyalists of continuity will remain victims of continuity. “The Constitution must be a priority element of the dialogue package, which remains a façade and fruitless if it takes place in the presence of political prisons, state protection for Hajdari’s killers, and the pursuit and persecution of the opposition.” ON PAGE 3

Today, 25 days since the murder of the December Leader Each day that passes since the murder of Azem Hajdari, the symbol of democracy and pluralism, proves the involvement of Fatos Nano’s government and his unassailable role in the crime that shook the entire Albanian world. The governments of the former communists, who have remained free and undisturbed, while the criminals who took the December Leader’s life have been left untouched, show Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the killers, who have names and identities but are not touched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can in no way tolerate this fact. The government must either apprehend the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari. ON PAGE 3

What position will Majko take on former Prime Minister Nano’s desertion? What is expected following Mr. Majko’s first statements as prime minister is that he must demonstrate in practice that he is committed to implementing the standards ... ON PAGE 2

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declares that its policy on the Kosovo issue remains unchanged . ON PAGE 3

Compromised police unjustly keep in custody the sister of democracy’s martyr, Besim Çera The compromised police are unjustly keeping in custody the sister of democracy’s martyr, Besim Çera. Koçi zi begins the trial of the paths. ON PAGE 5

The winner of the “Nobel” Prize for Literature will be announced on Thursday The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature will be officially announced on Thursday, and the distinguished Albanian writer Ismail Kadare is one of the leading contenders to win it. According to specialist magazines, the Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare, who lives in Paris, as well as the writer Jose Saramago and Antonie Antunes, also have a chance of winning, since the Academy has not yet announced either the Albanian writer or the Portuguese one. The 95th prize, accompanied by 7.6 million Swedish kronor (938,000 USD), will be announced on Thursday before it is officially presented on December 10 in the Swedish capital. “We cannot know who the laureate for 1998 might be. The Swedish Academy has left everything completely shrouded in mystery, and it is not easy to make any predictions,” Dagbladet noted. The Chinese poet Bei Dao, who lives in Paris, is also on the list of contenders. “But his age (he is 49) may prove an obstacle to winning the prize,” Kinnunen notes.

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