The Cërnicë massacre, in which three Democratic Party activists were killed, has been fully brought to light Fatmir Haklaj, Ylli Haklaj and four others fired automatic weapons at the victims after pursuing them for about two kilometres in a black four-wheel-drive vehicle and another car, as far as the vicinity of Cërnicë ON PAGE 3

Fatos Nano deploys snipers over the tearful crowd. The state tries to obstruct the grand ceremony to wash its bloodstained hands Tens of thousands of citizens pay tribute to the victims of the government. Albania is in mourning. Flags at half-mast, flowers, car horns and lit candles The political crime committed by the state in Cërnicë, Tropojë, where three Democratic Party members were killed, shocked all Albanians as well. Thousands of citizens gathered in “Skënderbej” Square to protest against the terrorist state and political crime. Just as many gathered in numerous other cities to demonstrate the determination of all Albanians to expose the criminal state and the terrorist gangs of Fatos Nano, Neritan Ceka, Zabit Brokaj, etc. Never before has the dilemma been placed so starkly before Albanians: should we live with crime and be governed by it, or eliminate it from the path represented by the government? The killing of three founders of the DP was a grave political act against democracy in general and the opposition in particular. It was even graver than the 2 April massacre. On 2 April, DP leaders and members were targeted by snipers; now an ambush was laid. Fatos Nano will go down in Albania’s history as the murderer of the opposition, the mastermind and perpetrator of the two most serious killings committed in Albania. Neither would have happened without him. But whenever he is in power, he is also capable of creating and killing off the opposition using the most sophisticated forms and methods. Dozens of testimonies received by the DP confirm that the killers of the DP founders, Avdyl Matoshi, Gjin Kolbucaj and Naim Dizdari, are the Tropojë police chief and his brothers. The crime was orchestrated in Tirana by former State Security agents who have taken up positions in the police, and was conceived by Fatos Nano. They were killed solely because they had been founders and leaders of the DP. For two days, the state and the media under its control tried to conceal this killing. The Ministry of the Interior, television and the Socialist Party were involved in this crime, which was not only against the victims and the DP but against all Albanians. This proves the lengthy preparation behind this murder, while the shadow of other killings against the opposition looms in the background. The punishment of the Albanian opposition began on the very day power was seized by gangs and criminal elements. The gang leaders were called into the police, including the Cakran gang boss’s men, who took Agron Pasha from the surgery ward of Fier hospital and massacred him about 40 km from the city. People who commit such atrocities have their [unclear] on the chair of the prime minister, the minister of the interior, in police stations and everywhere else. People feel more powerless than ever, because it is no longer simply gangs threatening their peace and lives, but the state itself, turned into a gang. The two coalition parties signed a pact to fight crime. They had signed such a pact six months earlier. After it was signed, Albania’s woes only multiplied. Crime is still in control, while state structures have taken on the appearance of organised crime in every respect, from smuggling and trafficking to political killings. The second pact is just such a pact. Albanians have seen the hollowness of pacts between the communist and mafia clans that run the Albanian state today. And Tirana sent its final message: crime in power and the political terrorism of today’s leaders of the Albanian state will no longer be tolerated. The 6 January killing is a call to everyone. Let the gang-state speak for itself. Photo: Armando BABANI

Prime Minister Fatos Nano yesterday deployed snipers and spread police forces across the streets of Tirana, while the Albanian opposition was bidding its final farewell to the victims of state terror, Avdyl Matoshi, Naim Dizdari, Gjin Kolbucaj and Agron Pasha. Dozens of snipers had been positioned at high points around Skënderbej Square, which was filled with tens of thousands of capital residents protesting silently against crime and state terror. Tirana police, placed under the orders of the notorious Fadil Canaj, had filled the streets with special forces riding in “Ifa” trucks and vans, demonstrating their strength in front of the silent funeral procession accompanying the “Torch of Democracy,” Avdyl Matoshi, to his final resting place. It seems the capital’s silent protest by the democratic people did not give Nano the satisfaction of repeating the massacre of 2 April 1991. Back then, too, Nano was prime minister and Canaj was police chief.

The opposition denounces the commander of the 2 April massacre The Nano-Mejdani clique yesterday appointed Fadil Cani as Tirana police director, a man known for the serious crimes he committed during the communist dictatorship. He was the direct commander of the special forces that organised the 2 April 1991 massacre in Shkodër, in which four young people were killed, A. Broci, B. Beshana-ku, N. Kryeziu, B. Cela, and around 89 citizens of Shkodër were wounded, many of whom remain disabled to this day. In 1992, General Fadil Cani left the country. During the trial concerning the 2 April case, he was summoned as a defendant in absentia. Fadil Cani’s return today to head the police means the return of the crimes of 2 April and the return of the instruments of dictatorship to Albania. The Democratic Party demands his immediate removal from office and prosecution for the heinous crime of 2 April and the other crimes he committed during the communist dictatorship. Such individuals do not aim to establish law and order, but to suppress and bloodily crush the democratic opposition.

The European Community’s envoy meets the strikers on the fourth day of the strike ON PAGE 4

Beja, Arbnori and Vejsiu offer condolences to the families of the two martyrs of democracy in Tropoja ON PAGE 3

The speech by the Secretary General of the PD, Ridvan Bode, at the funeral ceremony ON PAGE 3

The speech by the Mayor of Tirana, Albert Brojka ON PAGE 3

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Photo: Armando BABANI

Today, 09.01.1998, at 12:00, the Chairman of the Democratic Party, Prof. Dr. Sali Berisha, will hold a press conference at the Rogner–Europapark hotel, regarding the latest news about the killing of Abdyl Matoshi and two other victims in Tropojë, as well as current issues. You are welcome!