SHIK blows up the restaurant where the lunch for the fortieth-day commemoration of Azem Hajdari was to be held Bomb, just a few metres from the place where the December Leader was killed. Several Democratic Party offices were also damaged ON PAGE 5

Magnificent demonstrations in honour of the Hero of Democracy, Azem Hajdari. “Skënderbej” Square and “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard resound with: “Azem, you are alive” Grand ceremony at the International Centre of Culture. A procession of thousands of people to Azem’s grave and the place where he was killed. New book on the hero’s activities

By Edi PALOKA A full 40 days have passed since the murder of Azem Hajdari. 40 days since the murder of the symbol of democracy and Albanian nationalism. An entire people is demanding the killers of their symbol, but the government has no intention of acting. Majko trades retorts with the DP when accused of his government protecting the killers, but that does not stop him from continuing to protect them. By now, even those who may have had doubts are becoming fully convinced that this government cannot catch the killers for the simple reason that this government, too, is a continuation of the one that killed Azem. No normal person in the world can refute this accusation. The simple logic that this government has taken no steps to find the killers is enough to understand that this government, too, is entangled in the murder. Nevertheless, the DP continues to maintain a correct stance. The DP demands that this government find and punish the killers. The Council of Europe resolution demands this too. Albanians are demanding it as well. But how long will they wait? If Majko thinks this can go on for long, he is wrong. If he thinks the Democrats will one day forget and back down, he is even more mistaken. Azem’s blood cannot turn to water. Majko should know that the anger of those people who gathered to bury Azem has not subsided; on the contrary. It was the fall of the Nano government that brought people a certain temporary calm. Some also thought this government would find and punish the killers, but that was all. The anger is still alive. The people who rose up on 14 September were not seeking power, and this is the main thing Majko must understand. If Majko and the others truly believe that what happened on 14 September was intended to seize power, they are gravely mistaken, and this mistake may cost them dearly. 14 September was the eruption of the anger of those people whose symbol, friend and brother had been killed, and this anger cannot be extinguished by replacing Nano with Majko. These people are seeking justice; they demand that the killers be found and punished, and until that happens their anger will not subside. This anger could erupt at any moment now that everyone is convinced that this government is just as implicated in the murder as the previous one. It is in the hands of this government to avert further eruptions of anger. This is being insistently demanded of it not only by Albanians, but also by the world. No one wants the country to be swept once again by such uprisings, which could turn into uncontrollable explosions. But, unfortunately, it is precisely the socialist governments that not only fail to work towards their aims, but also fuel them further. This time it was the Nano government, with its confrontation with the opposition, the imprisonments and the killings that culminated in Azem’s murder. The Majko government is doing the same: it has embraced the alleged coup d’état, which is said to mean that arrests of the opposition will continue, and it has said not a word about Azem’s killers. In practice, this is the same policy that is continuing, and this policy leads to only one outcome: the eruption of further uprisings. By now everyone has seen and understood that the socialist state can no longer stand in the face of people’s anger. The state remains standing only while citizens are calm and want it to do so; but when the state turns against most of its citizens, nothing can keep that state standing. They have experienced this, and Majko, just as Nano did, so the government would be wise to act quickly to find and punish Azem’s killers, rather than take the opposite course; otherwise it will be responsible for the eruption of further uprisings.

THE REAL KILLERS MUST BE PUNISHED

Jozefina Topalli in Rome, on the 50th anniversary of the universal charter on freedoms and human rights Topalli Buffetaut Today Mrs Topalli at an audience with His Holiness Pope John Paul II ON PAGE 3

Aldo Tenisci insults the memory of Azem Hajdari in Berat: He was a businessman and his murder was committed for personal reasons The not very favourable view of the OSCE’s presence in Albania that Mr Everts has fostered in Tirana recently is also being contributed to by the other presences around the districts. ON PAGE 3

The Municipal Council immortalizes the work of the December Leader The monument to the December Leader, Azem Hajdari, will be placed in the center of Tirana. This is what the Tirana Municipal Council has decided, and it has already presented the proposal to the city’s senior officials. This was announced by the chairman of the municipal council, Orhan Sakiqi, at the ceremony awarding the title “Honorary Citizen” to the hero of democracy. Placing the memorial in the center of Tirana is one of the great tributes being paid to Azem’s life and work. It will be further proof of the immortality of the man who led the anti-communist movement, the symbol of Albanian nationalism.

Call from the Union for Democracy. Protests until democracy is restored Citizens of Tirana, all of you who call yourselves Albanian, all of you who want freedom and democracy and aspire to a secure future, well-being and prosperity, come to the protest rally on Monday, October 25, 1998, at 17:00 in “Skënderbej” Square. This protest rally has the noble purpose of forcing the state to find the organizers and executors of the legend of Albanianism, Azem Hajdari; to secure the freedom of political prisoners; to reinstate those dismissed from their jobs for taking part in Azem Hajdari’s funeral; and to compel the holding of early elections, so that democracy and security for the national cause may return to Albania. Everyone to “Skënderbej” Square on Monday, 25.10.1998, at 17:00, against the government of the continuation of crime, smuggling and anti-Albanianism!

Former students of the December Movement, protest along “Dëshmorët e Kombit” Boulevard We inform you that the “Dhjetori ’90” Grouping will hold an important event on 23.10.1998 to commemorate the murder of the Hero of Democracy, Azem Hajdari. A procession ritual will be organized with the aim of finding Azem Hajdari’s killers. The procession will begin at 11:00 at “Nënë Tereza” Square, in front of the Central Corps of the University of Tirana, and will end at the place where MP Azem Hajdari was killed, where a press conference will be held. We emphasize that the participants will be only former student leaders of the “Dhjetori ’90” Anti-Communist Movement.

A winter in complete darkness for Albanians ON PAGE 7

The Union for Democracy is organizing large-scale protests today in Fier at 12:00 in the city’s main square, and at 17:00 in the center of Kavaja. Everyone to the protest against neodictatorship, to demand that Hajdari’s killers be found, and for new elections.

Photo: Albes FUSHA Thousands of residents of the capital at a powerful protest yesterday