Today, at 12:00, protest again against the neo-dictatorship The neo-dictatorship established by the governing coalition has escalated into savage violence against the Democratic Party, its leaders, the Albanian opposition, and the students confined in a hunger strike. Political killings and imprisonment, mistreatment and violence against Democrats have reached their peak. It is the duty of all Albanian Democrats, and especially the citizens of Tirana, to protest forcefully by every 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: “Today or never”—let us protest to save [us from] the neo-dictatorship of Majko’s continuity government. Everyone to the square today, December 20, at 12:00, to protest in support of the students.

Protests in support of the students on hunger strike, from Skënderbej Square toward the Student City Bode: We will be here in the square every day; every day we will protest in front of the prime minister’s office until the government responds to the demands of the hunger strikers ON PAGE 3

Socialists welcome police violence against the student hunger strikers The Socialist Party said it had no intention of relinquishing power, seized through violence, in order to give Albanians an immediate political solution to the grave crisis ON PAGE 3

The leadership of the Socialist Party considers the fight against the opposition, the killing of the December Leader, the arrest of the entire press, the prosecution of Sali Berisha, and the killing of around 12 Democrats, PD supporters and activists, to be major achievements of left-wing governance. At the meeting two days ago, the Socialists, stained with blood, applauded those who had escaped the “coup d’état” of September 14 and the protests of thousands of Albanians throughout Albania, and welcomed the Minister of the Interior who had brought down and terrorized the hunger-striking students. The SP’s record after a year in government was a record of its fight against the opposition, not of building a state and civil society in Albania. It was not a record of achievements in the economy and people’s well-being, the establishment of order or investment in the country, increases in wages, security, or resolution of the national question. The SP’s record is one of national treason, killings in the streets, by gangs, in homes and courtyards; threats by gangs and the kidnapping of merchants; illegal trafficking and narcotics; smuggling and state theft; the installation of the mafia in power and crime in the administration. Albania has never had a more negative record. Three governments in one year [?] demonstrate the impotence of the Albanian left to govern, let alone to establish a government for the future. In one year, the party leadership has seen one minister after another come and go, making money through theft and smuggling. Socialist ministers and former Socialist ministers, Social Democrats and allies alike have exposed the link between crime and government, and the installation of gang rule to keep power. The year 1998 represents the failure of the left in the country. It has failed as an opposition and extinguished its democratic ideas. They have shown themselves to be just that in every position of power they have held. In this way, it has also been a crime against the left itself and its constituency in Albania, compromising it for many years to come. Neither the former prime minister nor the new prime minister differs in the methods of governance they use. Both prime ministers exploited the prosecution service and the judiciary, turned a secret service into a trap [?], and caused more killings in a year than the state security service carried out during the ten years of its existence under the dictatorship; they applied a strategy of terror and mass psychological violence against people. Both prime ministers are tainted by theft and by the 120 million dollars in foreign loans to Albania. After a year and a half in power, they have done nothing to fulfil their promises or revive the country; they have neither helped Albanians nor cleaned up the state by establishing authority, compensating those harmed by gangs and the mafia, or curbing the gangs that are a product of those in power and kill while investments [?]. The Socialist leadership’s record was covered up by the hunger strike of more than 120 students. It is said that the Socialists and their allies want to make the government of Albania a Socialist government; those responsible for the killing of Hajdari and other Democrats are also seen in the attacks on the country’s roads [?], through which the Socialists gave neither their own nor your future any direction. They burned down the house for the coming year without being able to cut even 9% of expenditure and wages.

Yesterday in “Democracy” Square in the Student City. Shkodra in JU

Member of the hunger-strike committee Agata Nasti speaks about the reasons that led the students to occupy the premises On the eve of New Year’s, of course it would be very nice for us to be with our families too. Nevertheless, when we thought that we were sacrificing ourselves for the ideals of all students, we were sure that our families would also feel proud of this sublime act. ON PAGE 2

Today, 98 days since the killing of the December Leader Every day that passes since the killing of Azem Hajdari, the symbol of democracy and pluralism, proves the impotence of Fatos Nano’s government and his successor in dealing with the crime that shook the Albanian world. The governments of the former [?] of the Albanians, which leave the criminals behind and let the killers of the December Leader go free, have shown [?] the judges that they were and remain in the hands of the killers—people whose names are known, yet who are not touched by those in power. Democrats and all Albanians who loved and admired Azem Hajdari cannot tolerate this injustice any longer. The government must either capture the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself carried out the killing of Azem Hajdari.

The newspaper “The Guardian” exposes the cocaine-distribution mafia network The London newspaper “The Guardian”: International organized crime uses Albania as a gateway for smuggling drugs into Western countries, noting that there are cocaine distribution points in many Albanian cities ON PAGE 5

The chairman of the U.S. Congress Committee on International Relations, Benjamin Gillman, warns the Albanian government In a letter sent yesterday to Prime Minister Majko, the chairman of the U.S. Congress Committee on International Relations, Benjamin Gillman, expressed concern over the prosecutor Rrapi’s [?] threat to arrest Mr. Berisha. “I urge your government,” Gillman writes, “not to take actions of a political nature that would divide Albanian society and be counterproductive in relation to the serious problems you and the Albanian people face.” The arrest of Mr. Berisha, who is also the leader of the largest opposition party, is considered a partisan act. For investigations into responsibility for last September’s events to be honest and impartial, they must focus on the killing of Azem Hajdari, which was also the main cause of those gatherings. “I am deeply convinced,” Gillman writes to Prime Minister Majko, “that this call is not in your interest, nor in the interest of your government or your people.” ON PAGE 4

Large rally in the city of Fier Thousands of citizens of Fier gathered yesterday in the city’s main square to protest against the government. The participants in the rally voiced their support for the student hunger strikers, against the summons of Berisha [?] to the political prosecution, and also demanded the immediate departure of the Majko government. The large turnout of citizens of Fier once again demonstrated that the city of Fier stands with the opposition and can no longer endure terrorist rule. ON PAGE 6

The victims’ president testifies about how Zani Çaushi and his gang killed their sons At yesterday’s hearing, following the lawyers’ request to change the security measure, it became clear that the entire gang led by Çaushi would be free very soon ON PAGE 5

“In the context of the situation in the country, this programme does not ensure economic development” By Dr. Albina KARAMITRO 1. The context of a politically destabilized situation, the very high levels of smuggling, corruption and tax evasion, the absence of public order and the increased risk to investment, the lack of an efficient supervisory system and [?] for efficient implementation, and a statist mentality that obstructs reform constitute the preconditions