The trial of “Zani of Vlora” begins ON PAGE 4

NATO one step away from attacks on Serbia Serbs attack in Kamenicë, Tropojë. Serbian commandos seriously wound an Albanian border police officer ON PAGE 7

Parliament humiliates and insults Albanians; the referendum law is butchered. Even ten fanatical socialists can approve the country’s fundamental law Gjinushi: The referendum is a formality; Parliament makes the constitution. Changes to the law endanger Albania’s security and integrity

By Bardhyl LONDO It has been a month since the Prometheus of the December movement, who raised the banner of Albanian nationalism, is no longer among us. The pain and remembrance of him cannot be merely the pain and remembrance of such a magnitude as to allow one to remember even a party or movement leader who remains in history. Azem Hajdari transcends these conventions. He was a true Prometheus, because he gave Albanians that fire for which the gods would condemn him forever in an inhuman and criminal manner, as the gods of evil—the communist monsters who in Albania for 50 years in a row had taken the form of false gods—know how to condemn. And his shooting, like his life, would cause endless upheaval throughout the Albanian world, as indeed it did. Today, a month later, Azem’s body, from beneath the earth where he rests, is still close to causing earthquakes. And those in the leadership of this country in particular must understand this well. No matter how many prime ministers change, how many statements are made, or how many ultimatums the world’s superpowers issue, one thing is clear: Albania cannot be calmed until the murder of Azem Hajdari is clarified. This is not merely about his friends and comrades, of whom the Prometheus of December had so many, from the intellectual elite to the simplest people. Nor is it merely about the thousands upon thousands of his supporters who, at any hour of the day or night, are ready to give their lives simply to know that they are serving Azem Hajdari’s cause. The problem is broader: Azem Hajdari as a symbol represents the 50-year aspirations of an entire people, but also the divisions and unresolved complexes this people has experienced for half a century. That is why, if these complexes are not calmed, they may erupt again uncontrollably. For them to be calmed and subside, an answer is urgently needed. Anyone who thinks this situation is over or can easily be overcome, perhaps even with statements from the world’s influential chanceries, is very mistaken. The murder of Azem Hajdari demands a fundamental answer: will the opposition in Albania be killed off through politics? Put more plainly: will there be democracy in Albania? When opposition leaders are murdered—especially symbols of the overthrow of communism—it is clear that democracy is not merely in crisis but is entirely absent. One month after the criminal murder of Azem Hajdari, it seems that the Albanian government has closed this matter. Prime Minister Nano’s resignation cannot serve as a sedative for this wound, which continues and will continue to bleed. The former Albanian prime minister, naturally under domestic and foreign pressure, was twice forced to acknowledge responsibility for the political murders of Arben Broci and Azem Hajdari. But this time the price is far higher and cannot possibly be paid off by the prime minister’s resignation alone. If, in April seven years ago, the government’s resignation was accompanied by a political solution—that is, new elections—then it is clear that this time the prime minister’s departure, even his removal from the Albanian political scene, cannot calm the turmoil in Albania. The price for this crime must be paid not merely by the prime minister, but by what the prime minister represents: a political solution in which the people can speak freely and without pressure. The elections of 29 June, even before the murder of Azem Hajdari, were thoroughly discredited. They were not free and democratic; they went beyond the limits of what was acceptable at the time, as the international community characterized them. In Albania, before voting took place on 29 June, the vote had already been decided, because in two-thirds of the territory power had been seized by force of arms. During this month, what is worrying and becoming a source of future conflicts is the conduct of Albania’s specialized investigative bodies. The deafening silence of the prosecutor’s office: has an opposition leader, a leader like Hajdari, a personality and a man with so many friends, comrades, admirers and followers throughout the Albanian world been murdered or not? Their indifference, politically compromised, has openly incriminated them—and they should know that one day they will also face Albanian public opinion morally over this. If they claim that the consequences and their silence demonstrate an inability or incapacity to investigate a political murder, they must immediately resign or leave before it is too late. The inability to investigate and uncover such an event, when not accompanied by resignation, becomes a true moral crime. Moreover, they should know that investigations into the so-called “coup d’état” that frightens them so much do not begin with the events of 14 September, but with the murder of Azem Hajdari. And if they take responsibility for the “coup d’état,” its perpetrators should not be sought among the crowd that was violently manipulated, but among those who ordered Azem Hajdari to be killed in Parliament, in Millot, in Bajram Curr, in Tirana, and in dozens of other failed and unexplained assassination attempts. A month in the life of a nation may be very little. But that September was exceedingly long for Albanians. They await an answer, not merely about the events in Azem Hajdari’s life, but about those who ordered or paid for what was done to him. They wait because their post-communist history and future are bound up with this event, as is the national dilemma: are we a democratic country, or do we remain a country where the opposition will be bloodied and killed until all the symbols of the student uprising against the Dictatorship have been erased? It has been a difficult, bitter month. A month without hope, because Albania today and in the future cannot be calmed without clarifying the murders of Azem Hajdari and Arben Broci.

By Astrit PATOZI The former-communist majority showed yesterday that it is making every effort to leave the Albanians with a fake constitution, for whose approval even the votes of a remote village or a handful of Socialist Party fanatics who have not yet left Maksim Hasani’s formation will suffice. Yesterday the parliament of row-by-row voting displayed unprecedented irresponsibility when it approved a new law in which nothing at all is specified regarding…

Fresh flowers, lit candles, and sustained horn blasts at the place where Azem Hajdari was killed Yesterday in Skënderbej Square Photo: Albes FUSHA Hundreds of Democrats commemorated Azem Hajdari last night at 21:15. Fresh flowers, lit candles, and car horns sounded at the place where, a month earlier, Fatos Nano and his phalanxes executed the leader of the Djehori and the hero of pluralism. Azem Hajdari and his father Besim Çeraj. The heavy rain and the [?] of the Democrats gathered near the DP headquarters recalled the tragic evening of September 12, when Albanians were divided by the symbolic colors of democracy and Albania. The deep silence of the large crowd was a protest against the government: although a month has passed since the attack, tempers have not cooled, and the entire population has begun investigations into [?], has begun to leave [?]. Because of the possibility of retaliatory action by parliamentarians. Silence. Likewise, reliable sources in Tirana say there are no signs of any military movement or attack by Serbian forces on the country's northern border. The Deputy Prime Minister... Yesterday in Skënderbej Square. Photo: Albes FUSHA

is making every effort to leave Albanians with a fake constitution, for whose approval the votes of even a remote village or a handful of Socialist Party fanatics—who have still not joined Maksim Hasani’s formation—will be sufficient. Yesterday, the parliament of roll-call voting displayed unprecedented irresponsibility when it passed a new law that does not specify any minimum percentage for a referendum vote to be considered valid. Yesterday, the left-wing MPs raised their fists to give the green light to a law that definitively sinks not only the concept of the referendum, but also the sole chance for the constitution to pass the test of the majority of Albanians. According to (Continued on page 2)

Cannibalistic men from Vlora attempt another tragedy They throw 15 children into the sea The Italian border guards did everything possible to avert this tragedy Footage from Euronews and various Italian channels showed frightened children and mothers crying over the ordeal they had just gone through. Italian police held them in their arms, while their faces expressed disbelief that they were really on land, finally saved from the cold waves of the sea. This latest tragedy was set in motion by Vlora’s bandits just three days after they attempted to drown families and women who had come from Kosovo. Around nine children and several women were pulled from the water and the depths of the sea and ... saved from the cold waves of the sea. Only the Italian police managed to save them from certain drowning, while the cannibals quickly turned back toward the Albanian coast in their speedboats. This major crime, the attempted drowning of people in the sea, continues to go unpunished by the Albanian authorities. Among these people, who have been criminalized and have faced this crime, were Kurds, Chinese, Pakistanis, Turks, Iraqis, etc. The tragedy that began on the shores of Vlora has sent thousands of desperate people to the bottom of the sea, who...

Nano reappears in public with whisky and squads of guards. Government car is privatized in the parliament courtyard ON PAGE 3 Nano must return the Prime Minister’s Office cars Former Prime Minister Fatos Nano must return the cars he took from the Prime Minister’s Office. On the day he left office, he also took two armored cars belonging to the prime minister. These are precisely the two Benz cars now driving around Tirana without license plates, which should have been returned at least ten days ago. Nano took them along with his team of bodyguards, disregarding the fact that they are state property and do not go with the prime minister when the latter leaves office. Likewise, the new Prime Minister, Majko, should demand that Nano return the cars, since they are, first and foremost, state property. So far, the prime minister has taken the cars and bodyguards and continues to live in the Bllok; all these are privileges to which he is entitled neither as a former prime minister nor as party chairman.