Today, at 11:30, all Tirana in Skanderbeg Square CITIZENS OF TIRANA! The neodictatorship imposed by the governing coalition has descended into brutal violence against the Democratic Party, its leaders, and the Albanian opposition. CITIZENS OF TIRANA! The neodictatorship imposed by the governing coalition has descended into brutal violence against the Democratic Party, its leaders, and the Albanian opposition. Political murders and imprisonments, mistreatment and violence against Democrats have reached their peak. It is the duty of all Albanian Democrats and, in particular, the citizens of Tirana, to protest forcefully by all democratic means and say “Stop!” to the political terror of the criminal gangs of the governing coalition now in power. CITIZENS OF TIRANA! The Democratic Party and “Union for Democracy” call on you: “Now or never”—let us protest to drive out the neodictatorship of Majko’s continuity government. Everyone to the square today, December 17, at 11:30, to protest against political crime.

The hunger strike has entered its eighth day, while Majko insists on refusing to speak with the students Shkodra appeals to the Prime Minister: Speak with the students. Gjirokastër students declare an indefinite strike ON PAGE 5

Berisha calls on the people of Tirana to support the students’ strike The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, gave the following statement yesterday to the country’s print and electronic media and to foreign media: “I called this press conference to express my deepest concern that the uproar surrounding the proceedings and accusations against Berisha over the so-called ‘coup d’état’ has, in a thoroughly ill-considered way, shifted the attention of the Albanian media away from a great human tragedy that has entered its ninth day today and is unfolding in the Student City, where around 100 students confined in a self-sacrificial hunger strike are enduring severe suffering, sacrificing themselves amid profound physical pain and great spiritual anguish caused by complete starvation. ON PAGE 3

The left-wing government wants the students to die. Today marks eight days since 120 students from the country’s three largest universities confined themselves to a hunger strike, through which they seek to have their demands met—demands that are entirely modest compared with the luxuries government officials have provided for themselves, from salaries and loans to large-scale theft, smuggling, illegal trafficking, and the looting of the money and assets of investment companies operating in the country. The government investment requested by the students is quite small, while a significant part of their demands concerns the independence and democratic functioning of Albanian universities. This very demand, which the government refuses to recognize, is one of the reasons why the 120 students are undertaking the most sublime act, putting their lives at the service of the democratization and modernization of Albanian educational institutions. But the government’s confrontation with the students runs much deeper. The Albanian students’ strike is an SOS signal to all Albanian society, which appears to be held captive by bad governance, entangled in terrorism, criminality, theft, smuggling, and the establishment of mafia circles in politics and the economy. The lack of dialogue with the students shows that the government team is in a deep crisis within itself, in a situation bordering on the criminal, one that could even cost the students their lives in order, naturally, to preserve the seats of power. 120 students on the eighth day of a hunger strike are enough to understand the essence of the power built by the left-wing political class. From this point on, the left-wing officeholders have separated themselves from all Albanians who are part of every government, and from the country’s youngest generation, which is also the future of every society; they have created a distance that cannot be bridged with the majority of Albanians. Prime Minister Majko, instead of having the ministry make visits to prisons, should get up and go to the hunger strikers, to the place where they are striking—a place that is at once a prison, a hospital, and an extraordinary protest. Let him see how far the Albanian government is from the people and their needs, how criminal it is toward the students, and how it tramples them and leaves them confined for days without knowing that they are without food. The Minister of Health sent them a medical team whose services are of little use, if any. Meanwhile, as the student protest has spread throughout the country, Prime Minister Majko and the levers of his power in the General Prosecutor’s Office have dealt another blow to the Albanian opposition by summoning its leader, Berisha, for questioning as a defendant. This is an attempted blow against the hunger strikers as well, while they are finding it difficult to break the strikers’ morale. The current solution of summoning Berisha to the Prosecutor’s Office is a new attack on the opposition, just as the hunger strike and the students’ determination have also been targeted. These new ways of resolving crises were also used by their left-wing predecessors. With handcuffs in one hand and a rifle in the other, they went after the opposition and its resistance with every means, but the opposition only grew stronger. The same will happen with Majko’s government: it will be strengthened, just like the Çaushesku government and Nano I, governments against the students.

Forza Italia MP Bergamo urges the Chamber of Deputies and the Italian Government to intervene and condemn the persecution of Berisha Italian Forza Italia MP Alessandro Bergamo condemned

Italian “Forza Italia” MP Alessandro Bergamo yesterday denounced before the Italian Parliament the General Prosecutor’s Office’s decision to summon the chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, for questioning. Bergamo described the prosecution’s accusation against Berisha—that he allegedly organized the armed uprising “on 14 September, when the police fired on citizens taking part in the funeral of MP Azem Hajdari”—as “a savage judicial persecution that has turned into political revenge aimed at finally getting rid of the opposition leader.” ON PAGE 3

The governing clique and its anti-Albanian tutors are seeking to destabilize the country ON PAGE 3

The national-minded cannot coexist with the anti-national By Abdi BALETA ON PAGE 8

Today, 95 days since the murder of the December Leader Every 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 past in the crime that shocked the entire Albanian world. The governments of the former communists and the young Albanians have been and are on the side of the killers, whose names are known, but who remain untouched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari cannot tolerate this under any circumstances. The government must either arrest the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself committed the murder of Azem Hajdari.

A 24-year-old from Tropojë is shot beside his fiancée Yesterday, police brutally killed a young man in the center of the capital. The grave incident occurred under circumstances that are still unknown, in the evening, at around 19:30, in central Tirana, near the mosque. Police sources said that the young man shot by a member of the “Eagles” forces was named Kujtim Gjoka, born in Tropojë and living in Tirana. The police refused to explain the reasons and motives that led the member of the “Eagles” forces to shoot the twenty-four-year-old Gjoka, a recently graduated engineer from the Faculty of Construction. Sources at the scene said that the victim was accompanied by his fiancée when the police launched an assault on his life. After being hit by several pistol bullets, Gjoka was left gravely wounded. While being taken to hospital, the 24-year-old lost a great deal of blood, and the medical team’s intervention could not save Gjoka’s life. T.S

Ngjela and Gjata comment on the charges against the opposition leader Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, only a witness, not a defendant, may be forcibly brought in to answer questions before prosecutors Former Constitutional Court President Rustem Gjata and well-known lawyer Spartak Ngjela, who is also a member of the Albanian Parliament, stated yesterday that the prosecution had violated the law in the summons issued to opposition leader Sali Berisha. Gjata and Ngjela said that under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the prosecution has no right to bring defendants in by force or forcibly question them. According to them, the law provides for such a measure only in the case of a witness, whereas in the case of a defendant the court must decide. The well-known lawyer Ngjela said that no one can force a citizen to answer prosecutors if that is not what they want. Indeed, they may even choose not to appear at their own trial, if they consider it appropriate. In Ngjela’s view, apart from its purely political aspect, the wording of the prosecutors’ summons to Berisha also violates the legal rules in force. He said that the haste to speak boldly and forcefully while breaking the law reveals a pronounced political agenda and a return to the prosecutors’ totalitarian mindset. Meanwhile, according to the President of the Constitutional Court, this is an unprecedented act of violating the law in Albania; moreover, he said, even the court has no right to order Berisha’s forced appearance. In Gjata’s view, a defendant may be notified of the charge in writing, while it is his unquestionable right to answer the prosecutors’ questions or not. Ngjela also points to the former president’s status enjoyed by opposition leader Sali Berisha, which, in his view, does not allow prosecutors to act boldly and by force. They must understand that they cannot break the law, especially when it concerns the opposition leader, who, among other things, served as President of the Republic for six years, Ngjela said. According to the lawyer, Berisha has the right to decide how he will respond to the prosecution’s summons, which, in this same case, apart from its clear political motive, has not known how to deploy repressive measures without breaking the law in force. T.GJ.

“So just as we begin to feel optimistic that we can move in the right direction, we are confronted with initiatives that seek to destabilize” By Ferdinand XHAFERRI ON PAGE 5

Metalworkers refuse to be thrown out onto the streets Low wages, the suspension of work due to shortages of raw materials and electricity, workforce stabilization, the provision of wages and subsistence for two years to employees who are thrown out onto the streets, as well as working conditions, are the reasons for the protest... ON PAGE 7

Today, at the Democratic Party headquarters , today, on 17 December at 3:00 p.m., the National Council of the Democratic Party will meet. The meeting will examine the political situation in the country and take the relevant decisions to confront the regime’s growing violence against the opposition, and in particular against the Democratic Party and its leadership. Members of the Democratic Party are also invited to attend.