The hunger strike has entered its 9th day, while Majko insists on refusing to talk with the students Shkodra appeals to the minister: Talk to the students! Students in Gjirokastër declare an open-ended strike The Prime Minister demands the students’ blood The hunger strike has entered its 9th day, while Majko insists on refusing to talk with the students Shkodra appeals to the minister: Talk to the students! Students in Gjirokastër declare an open-ended strike ON PAGE 3 Berisha calls on the people of Tirana to support the students’ strike To the prosecutors, I will give the response they deserve The Socialist Party’s action is hindering the Tirana police, which has its heart k... [?] they do not know. Tirana — After joining the student hours from the beginning to break the barricade in front of the Palace of Congresses where students de- clared a hunger strike, the head of the PD, Berisha, de- clared that the criminal government cannot stop the right guaranteed by the country’s constitution. After he decreed the government of the latest political storms in the country and after the reaction of foreign diplomats and well-known personalities from the country and abroad, hundreds of students have now joined the hunger strike. Berisha said that the mafia clans surrounding the Prime Minister are leading the country toward submission. He added that students have their constitutional right to protest, while he blamed the government for trying to isolate and end the strike. By yesterday midday the protest had spread to several faculties and cities. In the evening it was announced that students from Gjirokastër would enter an open-ended strike. The students have asked only for dialogue, but the government has responded with silence, political pressure and police.

To the prosecutors, I will give the response they deserve Berisha: call on the people of Tirana to support the students’ strike To the prosecutors, I will give the response they deserve The chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, said yesterday in front of several hundred students on strike that the students are carrying out an unwavering protest against communist terror. “All the hopes of peace and civilization are today with the student youth. I am here to express my solidarity and that of all Albanians with you and to declare my support without any reservation on behalf of the Democratic Party and its allies. This endless strike by the students of Tirana is as important to us as 8 December 1990. This is an unwavering protest against communist terror,” Berisha said. He accused the government of using the police and the prosecutor’s office against the students and of threatening with prison those who support them. Berisha called on the residents of Tirana, citizens, parents and young people to support the strike through presence and solidarity. “Our response will be civic, but strong,” he said. ON PAGE 3

The governing clique and its anti-Albanian patrons are seeking the destabilization of the country PD: Majko, step back from the terrorist acts The governing clique and its anti-Albanian patrons are seeking the destabilization of the country ON PAGE 3 A 24-year-old from Tropoja called the armed men once Police kill in the center of Tirana

Anti-Berisha front, front against the nation The national cannot coexist with the anti-national Anti-Berisha front, front against the nation ON PAGE 8 By Abdi Baleta

The state far from dialogue and close to violence By Ferdinand Xhaferri ON PAGE 7

The ferrochrome plant on strike Malajçi did not agree to give up the ferrochrome plant on strike ON PAGE 8

The government, a daily letter against the students The current government stood completely fired up to implement the entire its plan against the striking students. It incited its own militants, the secret police structures, the political services and its media to strike at any sign of solidarity with the strike. It did everything it could to portray the students as manipulated, as pushed by the opposition and as incapable of dialogue. But faced with the students’ civic resistance, the government failed. It did not manage either to break their determination, or the support of the citizens. Instead of dialogue, it chose threats and slander, which only increased public revolt. Today the attempt to discredit the strike has turned into an act of political desperation. The students have shown that they are free, aware and determined. The government remains isolated in its fear.

A 24-year-old from Tropoja called the armed men once Police kill in the center of Tirana According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, only the witness, not the suspect, may be questioned about the origin of the weapon without provoking ON PAGE 7

Today, 95 days after the killing of the leader of freedom, the government protects the killers of Azem Hajdari ON PAGE 6

Today, at PD headquarters the National Council meets ON PAGE 5

Today, 11:30 a.m., all of Tirana in “Skënderbej” Square The Democratic Party, together with its governing allies and with the market gardeners and traders of Albania’s “Brotherhood” and with other protesters — citizens, groups of politically persecuted people, independent trade unions and opposition political forces — have decided to hold a multi-faceted pro- test in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in “Skënderbej” Square. 17 December is a historical date for the collapse of the mono- poly of evil, the symbolic day of the overthrow of the dictatorship. It also marked the first clash with the police state and the political prisons. The current Prime Minister, who has appropriated the symbolism of 17 December, has revived the ghost of the political police and the red guard of the communist dictatorship. In these black days and sad years he has destroyed the rule of law and has plunged the country into a chaos of 150 million dollars in theft, because he governs with hatred and political revenge against communism and with scenarios for the elimination of pluralism. The defense of political freedoms and rights has alarmed not only the free Albanian mind, but all our friends in the West. Today free citizens will gather in front of the Prime Minister’s Office to protest against arbitrary rule and governance through fear. Bring flowers and candles with you! Your presence can de-bureaucratize and lift Tirana up. CITIZENS OF TIRANA, Today at 11:30 the boulevard and the central square of the capital must be filled with the echo of the Albanian protest. Treat violence, threats and the opposition with contempt. Show the world how determined the free citizens of this country are to restore violated freedom, order and the overturned constitution, with civility and determination. OVERTAKE TIRANA!