On Wednesday, 26 May, all of Albania in strike 50,000 residents of the capital fill "Skënderbej" Square at the large protest rally. Strong applause for the Democratic Party and Berisha ON PAGE 2

By Blerim LONDO In the lead-up and in the chronological order of the events of 1989 in Albania, we have often and rightly referred to the stirrings of discontent among Tirana students of the time, who demanded better living conditions. It was not only natural, but significant, that this accumulation of discontent should escalate into hatred, or even denunciation of the system that had reduced this most vital part of the nation to such a state. Just as it was natural to expect that the spontaneous outburst of this hatred among the young would be strongly supported and backed by the entire people oppressed and trampled by the communist regime. Up to this point everything is quite understandable. The hysteria of these days, the extreme strain of the imagination of part of the Albanian press in portraying this outburst as the result of Berisha’s extraordinary activity, secrecy, tricks, intrigues and deceptions, has reached not only the limits of absurdity, but of outright madness. It is enough to claim that Berisha supposedly prepared the Shkodër students’ rebellion well before December 1990 to understand the state in which even the most merciless enemies of the PD leader now find themselves. The writer of this article has taken, in these days, a critical stance not only toward this absurd treatment of the developments of that time in the Albanian press, but also toward efforts to denigrate Berisha’s figure. The censorship of an impartial opinion in our press, long stripped of professional ethics, is now a fact and not a mystery. Therefore we are addressing the reader directly, to lay out some of the historical truths that have been deliberately suppressed and distorted. From the standpoint of understanding the nature and character of the events of 1989, there are two actions that are the most typical and most significant, in which the hand of the state was caught red-handed. First, the incidents involving the English fans, manipulated with unprecedented brutality and malice by the Albanian security services, and second, the events related to staying in foreign embassies, which were likewise handled by the same apparatus. If we first dwell on the 1989 incident with the English fans, which also became a pretext for the campaign against "intellectualism" in the country. The latter in fact was a propaganda action, carefully exploited to reinforce the climate of terror against intellectuals, artists and the youth of the cities. In the atmosphere created then, every spontaneous manifestation of individual dissatisfaction was interpreted as part of a conspiracy organized by internal and external enemies. FEAD

The black file alarms government officials Today, Saturday, at 11:30, after the publication of the black murder file, several Socialist officials appeared at the Italian Embassy. Sources at this embassy report that they inquired about the names of the "RD" journalists who had published the file. Sources close to the embassy stated that the Socialist officials seemed highly concerned and interested in the fate of our newspaper. ON PAGE 3

"Union for Democracy": "The wing with the fulfillment of the requirements for the election commission" The opposition with joint candidates in local elections. Pollo: We are consulting with allies ON PAGE 3

Exclusive interview with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Turkey, Major General Kësai Karatay The rebellion had a finger from outside ON PAGE 3

The President stands on the throne over the blood of the slain guards The massacre of horror proves it. The President and the state became part of a catastrophic process, against the state and the country. Mutilations, burnings, robberies and break-ins, senseless killings, are clear evidence of a scenario that is turning out to be fatal for the image and dignity of this nation. The collapse, burning and delegitimization of the highest institutions of the state and justice, the armed forces slipping out of control, the country being plunged into chaos and then into a large mass of rebels and criminals and bandits. These are only some of the consequences of that process, which in the language used until now has been called "rebellion". But behind this political term rises a mountain of victims, pain and responsibility. The mutilation, burning and robbery of the General Staff building, which is now being presented for the first time in the pages of the Albanian press through shocking photographs, proves that there was not only political incitement, but also criminal organization. The published images clearly show the scale of the barbarity. In this sense, the accusations are directed at those who had responsibility for order, defense and the institutions. This massacre remains a heavy stain and a moral and political indictment. ON PAGE 3 The explosion and looting of the General Staff bakery. In the emptied building, 400,000 dollars were stolen and taken away in a suitcase by JSB employees

The burning of the municipality and the arsonists Coming soon in "RD", read: - Who is paying them for the tragedy of "Ortanes"? - All the names of the hunger-striking students and their mission. - In the grave of the bay of de and the living were taken by speedboat to Italy. Today they are what they gain from the public file of Tepelenë, coming soon in "RD" SPECIAL ON PAGE 5

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