How the elections will be held, from the sections to the Party chairman On page 4

The SHIK operation has begun to take shape following the American commitment to help investigate the Hajdari case Preparations are under way for arrests to lock up the truth about the murder of Azem Hajdari

EDITORIAL By Edi PALOKA Three ordinary citizens have been killed

Ceka and Zogaj are eyeing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Paskal Milo, after all the meetings he requested in Sarajevo were refused—and not one of the dignitaries present would shake his hand, except for an adviser to Simiç—and after his visa was refused by one of the world’s leading powers, is being asked to resign. The person seeking to take this post is not Lakrori, but there are two candidates from the same party: Ceka and Zogaj. This, it seems, is where the deep disagreements between Gjinushi and Ceka have recently stemmed from.

Three ordinary citizens have been killed within a few days by people wearing police uniforms. In Tropojë, Bislim Hyka and Isuf Bashkurti were executed by uniformed bandits. [headline cut off] its within a few days by people wearing police uniforms. In Tropojë, Bislim Hyka and Isuf Bashkurti were executed by uniformed bandits. Their killers, Jaho Salihi and Ylli Haklaj, were police officers in Tropojë. Just two days later, Pjerin Dushaj was executed in his home, in front of his children and neighbors, and his wife, Leonida Dushaj, was seriously wounded. The perpetrators were once again bandits wearing state uniforms. Minister of Public Order Poçi has declared that he has declared war on crime and that the police are determined to use force against armed gangs and criminals. If Poçi is serious about this, it is certainly something to be welcomed, but recent events leave no room for enthusiasm; quite the opposite. In recent days, instead of criminals, the victims of the police—or, more accurately, of uniformed bandits—have been ordinary, respected citizens. And if these two cases involve bandits, the bandits were on the side of the people wearing state uniforms. The DP has repeatedly denounced the fact that the police ranks are filled with bandits who emerged from the communist rebellion of ’97. It has repeatedly denounced flagrant cases involving both criminals wearing the insignia of power and the crimes such people committed not only before putting on the uniforms, but also while wearing them. But those who appointed them certainly knew these facts well, because it was precisely for these reasons that they appointed them as police station or public-order chiefs. They also know their crimes committed in uniform very well, but they are the very ones who ordered them to commit these crimes as well. The Haklajs are little different from those who appointed them to positions, as a trick, and others like them; yet, as Nertian Ceka, the man who carried out Nano’s orders to appoint them, declares: “People with personal conflicts should not work in the police.” What does Nertian Ceka mean by “personal conflicts”—the murder of dozens of innocent people, or the murder of Azem Hajdari? [continued on page 2]

Bode in Korçë, Pogradec and Bilisht DP Secretary Ridvan Bode took part in events organized by the Pogradec and Bilisht branches, events that also marked the launch of the Democratic Party’s election campaign. DP Secretary Ridvan Bode took part in events organized by the Pogradec and Bilisht branches, events that also marked the launch of the Democratic Party’s election campaign, and held an extended meeting with the leaders of the Korçë branch. At these events, guidelines for holding elections in all local structures of the Democratic Party were discussed, and a high level of engagement was noted. Mr. Bode said yesterday upon arriving in Tirana that elections in the sections had now begun, while work schedules had been drawn up for elections in all structures, up to and including district conferences. The DP Secretary General personally attended meetings of two sections in the village of Miras, where the party leaders there were elected and delegates to the branch conference were appointed. All the meetings saw high attendance and strong commitment to the DP election campaign. RD Correspondent

Today, 329 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 successor in the crime that shocked the entire Albanian world. The government of the former communists, which leaves free and undisturbed the criminals who took the life of the December Leader, shows Albanians that they have been and remain on the side of the killers, who have names, but are untouched by democratic power; and all Albanians who loved and honored Azem Hajdari can in no way tolerate this fact. The government must either arrest the criminals and bring them to justice, or publicly declare that it itself carried out Azem Hajdari’s murder.